The 7 Seals

Revelation 6:1-2 “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!” 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.”

Seal #1: The White Horse:

What is a conqueror? By definition it is someone who conquers a place or people. A conqueror is someone who sets their eyes on a goal of taking something for themselves, and following their laid plans to take that of which they want. If a conqueror wants a castle, they will lay siege until it is theirs. If they want to engulf a nation and broaden their own nations boundaries, they will wage war until their desired conquest is complete. If they want to enslave a certain group of people for a certain purpose, then they will round the people up by whatever means necessary.

This conqueror will be a little different. What do you notice about this rider on the white horse? He has a bow, but what about his bow? What is it missing? An arrow. This shows that he will conquer without force. He will take control with his mouth rather than with a massive army. He will be cunning and deceitful. White also signifies peace. This conqueror will unify the world, promising world peace. This will be the time when a series of false messiahs come offering the world peace. Messiah means savior or deliverer. These men or women may not be calling themselves the Christ, but they will be promising liberation and freedom. Notice that this rider is also free given a crown without having to earn it so the world will gladly welcome the peace with open arms. You may think that peace is a good thing, and in a world that was not broken it would be. But we are broken, and since the fall the powers of good and evil have been warring against each other. When the war subsides, and peace seems to reign, it is a sign that the side of good has withdrawn for its final onslaught. Which we will see unfold throughout this book.

Many people think that this is the Antichrist, but the Antichrist will be revealed later on in the sequences that unfold in revelation. So this is not the Antichrist even though the Antichrist is going to play a major roll in the push for world peace. Looking at the other riders and the calamities they bring with them, this is an impersonal force just as the other riders are. The other riders bring things such as widespread war, famine, death, ect. with them, and the rider on the white horse will bring widespread peace as well. But for how long?

Revelation 6:3-4 “When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 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.”

Seal #2: The Red Horse? The happenings in the first seal will abruptly come to an end. Red. The color of fire and blood. The color of judgment and the color that causes fear. This rider will be permitted to take the peace from the earth, and plunge her back into chaos. Chaos like it has never seen before. The word sword here is machaira. It refers to the short sword the was carried by the Romans, and by assassins alike. It is called great here in scripture to describe the extent of the war. Battle, assassination, rebellion, revolt, and massacre will plague the earth. The Antichrist played a big roll in bringing world peace, but he is going to play a large roll in the upheaval as well. He will bring peace, he will unite people, and then all at once he will begin to attack and wage war. He will set himself up as a god, and worship god’s that his fathers did not know. He will slaughter anyone who opposes his plan. “I do not know what WW3 will be fought with, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones” -Albert Einstein

Revelation 6:5-6 “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. 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!””

Seal #3:The Black Horse: Black is associated with famine in the book of Lamentations. The third seal will be the beginning of starvation throughout the world. Famine often comes with war. Fields are destroyed. Gardens are demolished. Stores and supplies chains suffer catastrophic loses and cannot deliver food to the world. People begin to starve as the food begins to run out. “A voice in the center of the four living creature.” Since the four living creatures are positions around the throne, this is likely the voice of God Himself. A pair of scales in the hand pictures a rationing system that will be set in place. Food lines will be miles long, but little food will be at hand when one reaches the front. A denarius is a days wage. A quart of wheat is barely enough to sustain a person for a day. So basically you will be able to work an entire day and barely buy enough food to sustain yourself. If you have a family you would be able to buy 3 quarts of barely, but barely has low nutritional value and would not be a sustainable food source long term. Oil and wine are staples in life. God warns people not to be wasteful of precious materials that are necessary for everyday life. Oil and wine are used in cooking, and oil is used in the purification of water. Wasting precious materials could result of the loss of them for the rest of your life as you know it on earth. At this point once something is gone, its gone for good.

Revelation 6:7-8 “When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 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.”

Seal #4: The Pale Horse: Other translations call this the ‘ashen’ horse. A kind of greenish beast. The word chloros (ashen), from which the English words “chlorophyll” and “chlorine” derive, refers to a sickly, pale, yellow-green color. The horses colors vividly portray the color of a rotting corpse. The horses rider here is the only one to be named. His name is Death, and along with him is Hades (the grave). Only death can come from widespread wars and famine, and only the grave can follow death. This is why we have depicted here the grave (Hades) following right behind Death.

The Horse and Rider had the authority to eliminate a fourth of the earth’s population. With a population today of 8 billion, that would equal 2 billion deaths worldwide. With today’s weapons technology it would be relatively easy to destroy at least a quarter of the earth at the push of a few buttons. Pestilence is the same word translated as death here in the scriptures. Here pestilence primarily refers to disease and illness that will be running rampant at this point on the earth, but deaths described by Jesus in Matthew 24:7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” will factor in as will. Wild beast could be rats. We got the plague from the fleas in the rats.

Think of World War 3. How horrible would that be? With our technology today it would be catastrophic. With the weapons of the near future it would be unbearable. Now think of beginning the war with all of its atrocities, massacres, and everything else that comes with war. Then imagine world leaders rally together and put an end to it, and the world sits back in bliss. Everyone is happy, and nations are trading with each other again, and no one is warmongering, no threats of death or nuclear strikes. All is well.....until its not...