I heard a story that took place in a western town in the late 1800’s. It told of a horse that was spooked and then bolted, running away uncontrollably with a small boy in the bed of the wagon. Seeing the child was in grave danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon, thus saving the boy’s life.
The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and was finally arrested for killing an unarmed man over a disagreement. He was arrested and eventually stood before the judge. As he looked up at the judge, he recognized him as the young man who had saved him so many years before. Seizing an opportunity that might save him, the killer told the judge that he was the boy who the judge had saved and then he asked the judge for mercy.
The response from the judge left the guilty man stammering for words. The judge said, “Young man, I came to you before as your savior, and I gave you the chance to become something good. You ignored that chance and lived according to your own rules. Today, I come before you as your judge, and I must hold you accountable for what you have done. I sentence you to death.”
That story paints the clearest possible picture of the predicament we are in. One day Jesus Christ will say to rebellious sinners, "During that long day of grace, I was the Savior, and I gave you the opportunity to live for me, but you denied me and rejected me because you wanted to live by your own rules. So today, I stand before you as your Judge, and I must hold you accountable for what you have done. I sentence you to death.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is still giving us the opportunities to live according to His laws. And He will continue to give us those opportunities until we stand before Him on Judgment Day. That could be at our physical death, or after the Great Tribulation if we happen to live that long.
This chapter is the actual beginning of that Great Tribulation being introduced upon the earth. Everything before this point was either a warning to get ready for a coming tribulation, or small glimpses of what this tribulation period would be like. Here, however, we start to see the actual details of this horrendous time of punishment on a sinful and unrepentant world. It is called the Great Tribulation, and it will be so horrible that the Bible says never before, nor ever again, will there be a time so bad.
In chapter 5, we saw where Jesus received the scroll and how all of the heavenly creation began to worship Him as being the only One who is deemed worthy to hold it, open it, and read it. As we go into chapter 6, we see Jesus opening the seals of the scroll and we are shown what happens when each seal is broken.
VERSES 1~2:
“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!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.”
When Jesus broke the first seal on the scroll, one of the living creatures boomed a command for a horse and rider to appear. Immediately, John saw a white horse whose rider carried a bow, wore a crown, and was bent on conquest. Who was this rider? Many people mistakenly think it was Jesus since he was on a white horse, but as we study it, we find that it was most likely the anti-christ.
He carried an instrument of war and was riding out to conquer, which means “take over forcibly.” Notice how he carried the bow, but there was no mention of an arrow. This could be conceived as a threat of war, or what today we would call “cold war.” This rider does not actually cause the war; he just threatens war.
He was given a crown, which signifies he had a kingdom under his authority. When God threw Satan out of heaven, He gave Satan temporary domain over the earth. This is the crown verse 2 references.
VERSES 3~4:
“When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 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.”
When Jesus opened the second seal, another creature gave a command to appear, and John saw another horse. But this horse was not white. It was fiery red. This rider did not carry a bow and wear a crown, though. He carried a large sword, and he had the power to cause war (taking peace away from the earth) and thereby causing men to kill one another!
The sword indicates a hand-to-hand type of combat rather than having one army sit in a control room and aim missiles at their enemies. Hand-to-hand combat is always a most vicious and terrible way to wage war. It is brutal beyond description. I know it is no coincidence that the color of the horse that causes death and brutality is the color of blood that has been shed.
VERSES 5~6:
“When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 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!"
Each time a seal is broken by Jesus, another living creature gives the very loud and strong command for another horse and rider to come forth. This horse was a solid black horse, and the rider carried a scales. These scales were for measuring. It signifies a severe rationing of everything mankind uses.
Famine often follows a time of severe war. Even in America, right after World War II, there was rationing. Milk, eggs, sugar, and many other things were rationed, and when you could get them, the prices were sky-high. And the same thing happens under the command of the black horse. There will a winding down of the war caused by the red horse, and then the nations will go into a time of terrible famine, high prices, and possibly even slavery that has been caused by one army’s taking dominion of another.
The order to harm the oil or the wine might be a reference to the fact that the luxuries afforded to the ultra rich and famous should not be bothered very much. Even in times of famine in today’s world, we notice that the rich, the powerful, and the famous all continue to have their luxuries while everyone else suffers and even starves to death.
VERSES 7~8:
“When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!” 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.”
Once again, nothing happens until the command is given and then another horse appears. This horse was pale green. When I see the color of pale green, I am instantly reminded of sickness and illness. That is what this horse has been empowered to bring forth. The Bible says the rider is Death and Hades is close behind him. Death refers to the physical death of the body, while Hades is symbolic of spiritual death.
A full 25% of the people on earth will die because of this horse. They will die either directly because they have been killed during war, or they will starve in the famine, or they will die of disease. Many of the diseases which we think modern medicine has cured have not really been cured. They have been put into a dormant position, but could come back quickly and ravish millions of people as quickly as a jet plane can carry them from one place to another.
For instance, we think Smallpox has been wiped out, but there are several laboratories throughout the world that keep the virus all locked up. All it would take is a mad dictator to loosen them upon the world. And Smallpox is not the only deadly virus that is locked up, either.
VERSE 9:
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.”
When Jesus breaks open the 5th seal, John sees the souls of those who have been martyred for Christ. They are under the altar of God. These people were willing to be sacrificed in the most horrendous of ways rather than deny the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many scholars believe that these souls belong to those 144,000 Jewish believers who go out and preach Jesus during the first part of the Tribulation. The reason they believe this is because in MATTHEW 24:9, Jesus’ disciples are asking Him what are the things that will happen before His return, and Jesus says; “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.”
VERSES 10~11:
“They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.”
Those who had been martyred cried out to God, asking how long they would have to wait to see the inhabitants of earth punished for killing them. According to chapter 20:4, John was seeing the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their belief in Jesus.
They were asking about those who deny God and claim earth as their domain. But God did not answer them by giving them a date or time. He gave them a white robe and told them to wait until the final number of martyrs would be completed. The white robe symbolizes their righteousness.
VERSES 12~14:
“I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”
It is curious that the first five seals had to do with the spiritual aspect while this sixth seal has more to do with the physical aspect of the world. As John watched Jesus opening the sixth seal, he began to see terrible and frightening things happening to the world around him. An earthquake of greater proportions than he had ever known occurred. This is the first of four massive earthquakes mentioned in the book of REVELATION.
This earthquake was so strong it literally messed up the alignment of the sky as viewed from earth. Where there were stars before the quake, there were no stars visible after the quake. This shift in the visible heavens also caused the light from the sun to disappear and caused the moon to appear red; possibly from all the dust and ashes spewed into the air from volcanic activity caused by the earthquake.
John is giving us even more detail about how strong that quake will be. If you have ever seen a smaller tree bend and shake in a strong windstorm, you will get an indication of how the earth will shake in this quake. It will be so strong that mountains move from their foundations and islands in the oceans simply disappear. I’d sure hate to be a non-believer and living on Hawaii or Wake Island during this time of torment.
VERSES 15~17:
“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "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 their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
Most of the time, the affluent, and powerful in society are protected from the tragedies that come our way. But we find that in the sixth seal of punishment that everybody will be panicked and frightened. The most powerful and the most affluent, along with everyone else will be scurrying around looking for a place to hide. Why? Because they would rather be killed by a cave collapsing on them rather than have God’s wrath fall upon them.
It is most unfortunate for them, that they finally realize that their stubbornness and arrogance in rejecting a “non-existing” God has only hurt them, and now they will be held fully accountable for their hearts and actions.
