Revelation 6

The first four seals (vs. 1-8)—Here we are introduced to the famous “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” though the Bible never refers to them in such terms, of course. The Lamb opened the seals—six of the seven in this chapter. Then there will be an interlude in chapter 7 before the seventh seal is opened in chapter 8.

The first seal is broken in verse one. A white horse with a man on it who had “a bow and a crown,” and “he went out conquering and to conquer” (v. 2). This horse obviously represents conquest. The second seal revealed the second horse, a red steed, and he who sat on was given power “to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword” (v. 4). The world will be plagued with war. The third seal exposes a black horse representing famine: “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine" (v. 6)—extremely high prices which symbolizes scarcity. In effect, the numbers given here would equate to a loaf of bread in our day costing $500. The fourth seal opened to reveal the pale horse, which the text itself says “was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (v. 8).

There has been some disagreement as to whether these horses represent a picture of persecution against God’s people, or are they forces that He will use to destroy the oppressors (Rome). The fifth seal seems to indicate the former, but some of the language used in describing the powers given to the horsemen seems broad, not specific; for example, in verse 8, power given to death over a “fourth part of the earth,” and such leads me to think that these are tools God will use against Rome. Arguments can be made for either view, and I’m not going to be dogmatic. Either way, awesome forces are going to be unleashed.

The fifth and sixth seals opened (vs. 9-17)--After the opening of the fifth seal (vs. 9-11), John saw “under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (v. 9)—martyrs for the cause of Christ. They wanted to know how long it would be before the Christian blood shed by persecutors was going to be avenged. White robes (purity, innocence, triumph) were given to them and they were told that they “should rest a little while longer” (v. 11) until he full number of martyrs “was completed.” The “little while longer” is vague, of course, but it does indicate an end to the persecutions at some not-too-distant point in the future. Christianity was given full legal protection by the Roman emperor Constantine in 313 A.D., just a few short years after one of the most bitter attacks against the religion by the emperor Diocletian. Diocletian thought he had totally wiped out Christianity. In the late 4th century, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire and probably had a significant part to play in the final destruction of the empire because of its undermining of the pagan foundations upon which Rome had been built. Destroy the foundations of any society and that society will crumble. America beware!

The sixth seal is broken and a partial answer is given to the martyrs of the fifth seal. Awesome geological and astronomical events take place (vs. 12-14), symbolizing the catastrophes that would befall the enemies of God. This kind of language—“sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth…the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place” (vs. 13-14) is found elsewhere in the Bible to indicate God’s judgment upon a sinful people (cf. Isaiah 13:10; Matt. 24:29-31). All the great leaders of the earth—those with power, might, dominion, absolute authority, in other words, those who could do as they wished with God’s people (or anyone else)—plus “every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains” (v. 15). They tried to escape the wrath of God, asking even for the mountains and rocks to “"Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (vs. 16-17). Better to be crushed by a mountain than to face the wrath of God! This “fall on us” language is found in the Old Testament, in Hosea 10:8, referring to what Samaria will desire rather than the punishment meted out by Jehovah.

So, the first six seals tell us that great disasters and trials will come upon the earth, and that many will be martyred for the name of Jesus. But when the Lord comes in judgment upon His enemies—not a one of them will escape.