Revelation 6 (4 Horses)

Jacob Whitaker

Revelation • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago

Revelation 6

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Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 6

The Seven Seals

6 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.

3 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.

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!”

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.

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.

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?”

In chapter 4 the Apostle John was lifted up to heaven to see one seated on a throne, a heavenly sanctuary where God is worshiped by four living creatures, 24 elders, and a myriad of angels. It’s a heavenly scene, from which the universe is upheld and the affairs of men are governed.

Then in chapter 5, in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne was a scroll written within and on the back, and sealed with seven seals. The scroll contained within it a sevenfold judgment against the covenant breakers, apostate Isreal. And while it signified the end of the old covenant, it also signified the arrival of a new, better covenant.

However, no one was found worthy to open the scroll, so John begins to weep. But one of the elders comes to him and says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders John saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain. He took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, and when he had taken the scroll, at once all of heaven and earth broke out in song.

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

It’s at this point we pickup in chapter 6 as the Lamb opens the seven seals of the scroll. This is yet another infamous section of Revelation, often referred to as the four horses, or four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first four seals are depicted as four riders or four horses, a white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. These all are meant to depict the judgments that will follow the opening of the seven seals.

Again, these seals represent the judgments that will befall the covenant breakers, apostate Israel, in the first century, those who crucified Jesus and had since persecuted the church. These seals represent a summary of the judgments that will follow in chapters 8-19, they don’t yet mark the beginning of those judgments. As we’ll see later in chapter 7, the Jewish Christians will first be sealed, before the judgment that follows in chapter 8 at the first trumpet. Therefore, chapter 6 is meant to introduce us to the type of the judgments that will soon follow. Opening the seals of the scroll is different than opening the scroll itself.

There are three cycles of sevenfold judgments in John’s Apocalypse, the seals summarize the events soon to come, while the trumpet and bowl judgments detail the beginning and climax of those judgments. It’s important to understand that the three cycles of sevenfold judgments are not meant to be taken in strict chronological order. They’re not a strict narrative of events, but repeatedly detail the judgments with increasing intensity, like a spiral staircase rises up. The seals summarize the judgments, the trumpets describe their beginning, while the bowls depict their climax and end.

Just judge

Now, before we look at chapter 6 in further detail I want to take a moment to consider the subject of judgment in the Bible. I don’t want us to grow weary of this subject as it’s brought up over and over again in John’s Apocalypse. I think many of us find the constant refrain of judgment throughout Scriptures wearisome and even depressing. And for many of us our culture has thoroughly taught us that judgment is synonymous with simply being mean, therefore we’re prone to wince at the thought of all the judgment portrayed in the Bible.

We also find it hard to share the whole Gospel, because it contains within it the threat of judgment. In fact, many Christians find the amount of judgment contained within the Bible embarrassing. We’ve so thoroughly adopted our culture’s sentiment that judgment is fundamentally unkind that we try to avoid the subject altogether. We conclude that judgment is fundamentally unloving, and therefore exclude it from our Gospel proclamation.

However, our culture despises judgment not because judgment is fundamentally unkind, but because our culture doesn’t want to be judged. We tend to think that judgment is unkind because we don’t think we’re that bad. In fact, we typically only want judgment carried out against those who are worse than we are, as if we were the standard of righteousness. Our culture hates judgment, because it doesn’t want to be judged, and so it has framed any form of judgment as simply unloving. Therefore, as Christians, we tend to shrink back from the subject, because we don’t want to be seen as unloving. So, the parts of Scripture that include it are ignored, we minimize it within our Bible studies and from the pulpit, and we exclude it from our Gospel proclamation.

However, the Bible does not frame or portray judgment in the same way. First, God’s judgment is always righteous, and never too severe, or unjust. In fact, the overarching theme of Scripture is that the just wrath of God was poured out upon his own Son rather than you and I because of his great love for us.

And not only that, but God’s judgments answer the question, “Does God really care?” When we suffer injustice, we’re prone to ask ourselves, “Does God really care?” And while we know that the biblical answer is “yes”, we can’t help but wonder when we don’t see justice carried out immediately. Therefore, whenever we see passages of judgment in the Bible we must understand that all judgment is the result of God carrying out justice. And we must always remember that a just judge is a good judge. Therefore, we must never lose sight, here in John’s Apocalypse, that God’s judgments are just. In fact, we’ll see later in Revelation 16:7, the martyrs, who are under the alter, saying “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” A just judge protects and defends the righteous. A just judge cares.

And the church of the first century was going to face persecution at an unprecedented level, and they’ll be prone to ask themselves, “Does God care about us?” Therefore, what they’re meant to see in this book is an answer to that question, that, yes, God does care, and he sees their plight, he see the injustice committed against them. Therefore, their persecutors will not go unpunished. Again, this book is meant to encourage the first century church, to make it clear that Christ has not abandoned them to hands of their adversaries. That he will judge and avenge their blood.

White horse

That being said, let’s begin there in verse 1,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

So, as the Lamb opens the seven seals the cherubim call forth four horsemen. And believe it or not, this imagery is not without precedent. Similar imagery of the four horses is found in Zechariah 6, where we see four chariots patrolling the earth. They’re depicted in Zechariah as four chariots, one of red horses, one of black horses, one of white horses, and one of dappled horses. Similarly here in John’s Apocalypse we see a white horse, red horse, black horse, and a pale horse who are being directed by the four cherubim to execute the will of him who sits on the throne. They’re intended to avenge the blood of the saints.

The first is a rider on a white horse. Now, there are various interpretations of who sits on this horse, but what’s essential to understand is that this horse signifies war. It’s rider is holding a bow and comes out conquering, and to conquer, with his crown likely signifying his assured victory. That he sits on a white horse also seems to emphasize his victory in battle.

In 66 AD the Jews rebelled against the Roman Empire, and the Emperor Nero responded by sending an army lead by the Roman General, Vespasian. The army would begin it’s assault from the north, capturing the cities in Galilee and Samaria, until eventually laying seige to the city of Jerusalem.

Red horse

English Standard Version Chapter 6

The second rider is on a red horse, meant to signify sword and bloodshed. The rider is permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another.

As Christians, we must understand that the only reason our world isn’t perpetually engaged bloody conflict is because God restrains evil. During the first century of the Roman Empire much of the empire enjoyed peace from war. The Empire had either eliminated or subdued most of its enemies, including the Jews. This period of time was referred to as the Pax Romana which literally means “Roman peace”.

However, we’re told that this rider on a red horse was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and that he was given a great sword. Which is precisely what happened as a result of the Jewish Revolt, leading to the first Jewish Roman War from 66-70 AD. This was what Jesus had warned his disciples about in his Olivet discourse when he described the future destruction of the Jewish Temple. That leading up to that time they would hear of wars and rumors of wars.

Though there was always tension between Rome and the Jews, at that time they enjoyed peace, the imperial dominion of the Roman Empire had brought temporary peace, therefore Jesus was describing to his disciples a time when that peace would be broken, when they would hear of wars and rumors of wars. Leading ultimately to the destruction of the Temple.

Furthermore, in Jesus’ final days, leading up to his crucifixion, we’re told that he drew near to the city, Jerusalem, and wept over it, saying,

English Standard Version Chapter 19

“Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

This is why Jesus would tell his disciples shortly thereafter to flee Jerusalem when they saw it surrounded by armies in Luke 21:20-24,

Luke 21:20–24 ESV

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

After Vespasian had conquered the cities in Galilee and Samaria, he surrounded Jerusalem to destroy it. However, shortly thereafter, Nero committed suicide, throwing the whole Empire into chaos in AD 69. Vespasian had to put his siege against Jerusalem on hold to travel to Rome in an attempt to stabilize the Empire. The destabilization was so bad that many at the time wondered if Rome would completely end in civil war. This time is famous referred to as the year of the four emperors while various men fought over the throne.

And more than that, the Jewish historian Josephus, whom Vespasian kept as his slave and interpreter during the Jewish Roman War, recorded that the Jewish Revolt and the resulting Jewish War had lead to great infighting amongst the Jews. That all of the Jewish factions had been driven into the city of Jerusalem and fought amongst themselves, killing one another, and destroying each other’s food supplies. Therefore, when we’re told that the rider on the red horse was permitted to take peace from the earth, history bears this out, just as Jesus had predicted almost 40 years earlier.

Black horse

Then,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

The third rider sits on a black horse, signifying famine. In Lamentations 4:20 the prophet Jeremiah described the famine in Judah like this,

English Standard Version Chapter 4

8 Now their face is blacker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets;

their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become as dry as wood.

9 Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of hunger,

who wasted away, pierced

by lack of the fruits of the field.

The seige against Jerusalem and the infighting amongst the Jews had lead to a dire shortage of food. This is why the rider on the black horse is carrying scales in his hand, and John hears a voice saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barely for a denarius.”

Josephus described the famine like this, “Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one quart; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort, but of barley if they were poorer” (Wars 5.10.2) A denarius was a day’s wage for the average laborer, and in return he could only afford to purchase a quart of wheat, barely enough to feed himself, let alone a family. The short supply of food had driven inflation up by more than 1,000% inside the city, consuming a man’s entire day’s wages. Josephus even recorded a story of one woman who was found eating her infant. This is why Jesus had warned his disciples, saying, “Woe to those who are nursing babies in those days!”

We’re also told that the rider was not to touch the oil and the wine. Now, oil and wine were considered expensive luxury items, therefore the irony was that they would starve to death despite having an abundance of oil and wine.

Pale horse

And finally we read in verse 7,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

The fourth rider sits on a pale horse. This horse is a pale, sickly, yellowish green color, the color of a corpse. The word translated ‘pale’ is also meant to imply pestilence, or disease. The rider’s name is Death, and Hades followed him. This rider is the culmination of all the other judgments that preceded him. These judgments result in death and the grave. Hades here is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew concept of Sheol, the abode of the dead.

Together these horsemen are given authority over the earth to kill with the sword, with famine, with pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth. Notice these four categories of judgment. If you’re at all familiar with the OT you should recognize these. They sum up Old Covenant curses outlined in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. In fact, the prophet Ezekiel who was prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC wrote in Ezekiel 14:21,

English Standard Version Chapter 14

21 “For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

5th seal

Then in verse 9 we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

It’s at this point we turn from the judgments that would befall Jerusalem, to the reason for those judgments, the souls who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. And notice the location of those martyrs, they are under the altar in heaven. The altar was the block on which sacrifices were made, and under the altar was where the blood of those sacrifices was ended up.

The imagery here is of the blood of the martyrs being poured out upon the altar, just as Jesus was an offering and a sacrifice to God for sin. Not as though their blood atoned for sin like Christ’s, but their lives, as the Apostle Paul put it, “fill up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24). In other words, when the enemies of God persecute the church, they persecute Christ himself, they persecute his body. While Paul was persecuting the church, Jesus knocked him off his horse and said, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 22:7) When church is persecuted Jesus takes it personally. Therefore, the blood of the martyrs, at the bottom of the altar, cries out like the blood Abel from the ground. The martyrs cry 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?”

Vindication & Imprecatory Prayers

One thing we learn from this text is that there are times when it’s appropriate for the saints of God to plead for vindication, to plead for justice. We tend to have only a negative, sinful category in our minds for vengeance and vindication, and while we are are certainly never to take vengeance into our own hands, when we are persecuted on account of the word of God, it is no inappropriate to cry out to God for justice. We see this here and all throughout the Psalms. We’re not meant to find a contradiction between how we treat our enemies (i.e. loving our enemies) and a biblical plea for righteous vindication.

You may recall Jesus’ Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18.

English Standard Version Chapter 18

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? zWill he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.

While we know that we are forbidden to take matters into our own hands, to get even, to seek out vengeance for ourselves, that “vengeance is mine says the Lord.” We’re meant to understand that God will vindicate his people, that God will avenge his saints. That he has done it before, and that he will do it again. That he cares for his saints. Our cries for justice are not meant to be confused with encouraging bitter and vindictive feelings toward our enemies, but of saints who love justice and trust their Lord to uphold it.

And that our duty, until he does, is to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, while we trust that God will give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night. That if our enemy is hungry, we give him something to eat, and if he is thirsty, we give him water to drink, for in doing so we heap hot coals upon his head, and the Lord will reward us. Doing good to our enemies is meant to bring a burning sense shame upon their heads for their wickedness, that they might turn and repent. This is how we overcome evil, we overcome it by doing good. In fact, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

In fact, when we get to Revelation 8 when the seventh seal is opened an angel comes and stands at the altar with a golden censer, and we’re told that he’s given incense to offer with the prayers of the saints on the altar before the throne. And that the smoke of incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel, and that the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. In other words, judgment is poured out against Jerusalem in response to the prayers of the saints, who cry to God day and night for justice.

Again, Revelation is meant to comfort those who suffer persecution and tribulation for their faith, that no matter their suffering, no matter their tribulation, no matter the injustice, that God sees, that God will avenge his saints.

6th seal

And finally,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

To the modern ear this sounds like cataclysmic destruction. This is why so many readers take a futurist approach to the book of Revelation, that all of the events must be describing an end of the world event. However, we must be careful readers when interpreting our Bibles. Anyone who is familiar with the OT prophets should notice a parallel between the language John uses here and writers like of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel. Listen to just a few examples.

When Isaiah described God’s judgment against Babylon he said in Isaiah 13,

“The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. … Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! … For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. … Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.”

and again in Isaiah 34:4 when he described God’s judgment on Edom,

English Standard Version Chapter 34

4 All the host of heaven shall rot away,

and the skies roll up like a scroll.

All their host shall fall,

as leaves fall from the vine,

like leaves falling from the fig tree.

then listen to how Ezekiel described God’s judgment against Egypt in Ezekiel 32:7,

Ezekiel 32:7 ESV

When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.

and lastly, listen to how Joel describes the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, in Joel 2:30-31,

Joel 2:30–31 ESV

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

These are examples of what’s called apocalyptic language, and what we read here in Revelation 6 is often described as de-creation language, where all of creation is portrayed as unraveling as the result of God’ s judgments.

An earthquake is meant to signify divine visitation, like Yahweh descending upon Mount Sinai in fire and causing the whole mountain to tremble. In this case, apocalyptic language is used to describe the onset of God’s coming in wrath against Jerusalem.

John also describes cosmic collapse, the sun becoming dark, the moon becoming like blood, and the stars falling to the earth. We aren’t meant to take this language literally. This language is meant to portray the fall of rulers and authorities. The Bible often describes rulers and authorities as celestial bodies. Jacob’s son Joseph had a dream where his father and mother were portrayed as the sun and the moon, while his brothers by stars. Even today our United States flag, the star spangled banner has on it stars, of which represent 50 united governments, or 50 sources of rule and authority.

Mountains are also described as being removed from their place, signifying the removal or toppling of governments that are seen as immovable, like a mountain. To the Jews the Temple was seen as an indestructible building, atop a mountain that could not be moved. Yet, God’s judgment would result in its utter destruction, leaving not one stone upon another. Therefore, while John uses apocalyptic language, these symbols do reflect historical realities, they have historical counterparts.

For instance, in Isaiah 13 when Isaiah described God’s judgment against Babylon using apocalyptic language, he also wrote, “Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. … And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.” In other words, the apocalyptic language is meant to portray the overthrow of Babylon be the Medes. Likewise, John’s apocalyptic language is meant to portray the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire.

Conclusion

And finally, John says ends there in verses 15-17,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

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?”

The judgment will cause every man to try and hide himself from the wrath of the Lamb, like Adam and Eve hiding themselves in the Garden. And this kind of language, of men calling to the mountains for rocks to fall on them and hide them is all throughout the OT, but as we reach the end our text today, I want to draw your attention to one text in particular, Luke 23:26-31, as Jesus is being lead away to be crucified,

English Standard Version Chapter 23

26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”