Revelation - Part 6

Summary: Revelation 6 describes the opening of the first six seals, each releasing significant events and judgments upon the earth, highlighting God's sovereignty and the unfolding of prophetic events leading to the final judgment.

We are reminded that God is in control and ultimately brings long-awaited justice to the world.

In Revelation 6, we see the sovereignty of Christ as the Lamb who opens the 7 seals. This act indicates His authority over history and creation, revealing the trials to come but also His ultimate victory, foreshadowing the hope of redemption and restoration in Him.

Even in the chaos of judgment and suffering, we can trust that Christ is sovereign and the ultimate authority in our lives, calling us to remain faithful amidst trials until His return.

The Four Horsemen

If you read 100 commentaries, you will find 100 different theories about the first 4 seals. Well, maybe not 100, but quite a few.

There are those who believe they each symbolize a type of government.

White - Empirical

Red - Communism (Think about their flags)

Black - Capitalism (Stock Market Scene)

Pale/Green - Socialism or Islam

Is Jesus on the White Horse?

There are those that believe the White Horse is Christ, while the other 3 are evil.

The evidence for the idea is very thin. The only biblical evidence is to compare the horse Jesus is riding in chapter 19. However, that scene has many differences and only one similarity, which is the white horse.

The difference is this rider has one crown, Jesus has many crowns.

This rider has a bow. Jesus has a sword.

Jesus is also wearing white dipped in red, and has eyes like flaming fire.

In verse 8 in this chapter, it is not clear if the following statement about all 4 hoursemen, or only the last one, but if it is about all 4, then it cannot be Jesus on this white horse.

Revelation 6:8 ESV

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.

It seems to make the most sense to me that the word “they” in verse 8 refers to all 4 horsemen since the pale horse is named “Death”, the Red horseman has a ‘sword”, and the black horsemen seems to be related to famine, as we will see in a minute, so “they” appears to be talking about all 4 horsemen.

If that is correct, then the white horse doesn’t seem to “fit” with the other 3 if Jesus is riding it. And why would he have a bow instead of a sword like he does in Chapter 19. Also, the scene in chapter 19 is like a climatic moment when Jesus rides out into view on his white horse. Here in chapter 6, it is very anticlimatic. Just lists the white horse as one of 4 horses, and doesn’t appear to be drawing the special kind of attention we would presume would be drawn to him, if the rider was the King of Kings and Lord of Lord.

This line of reasoning has caused many to suspect that the white horse is the AntiChrist. The fact that many interpreters have mistaken him for the real Christ, is some good evidence for this theory. He looks like Christ, but not quite. He has one crown instead of many, and has a bow instead of a sword. It is a somewhat valid argument to make, that is, this white horse is the false Christ.

However, the scene where the Antichrist is revealed is also much more climatic. And, this just doesn’t seem like the white horse is anything more special than the other 3 horses mentioned.

Some consideration could be spent at looking at the horsemen that Zechariah sees in his vision, but I won’t go into great detail, as those horses and horsemen seem to have a different meaning than these. Also, there is even more differences than there are similarities. You can read about them in Chapter 1 of his prophesy, but I will skip that for the sake of time.

So, what are the 4 horse men?

Types of Governments?

Periods of Time?

Types of Judgments in General?

Types of Judgments during a specific time?

I do see some great evidences in the argument about Types of Governments. However, the pale horse is very vague to me. The idea that these horsement represent specific time periods is also compelling. The white horse certianly lines up with the age of conquest. Empire taking over Empire, rinse and repeat, until finally world conquest is ended with WW2.

But then the lines get blurry between the Red and Black horse. Those would seem to at least overlap in that theory. If you trying to attach the black horse to the Industrial revolution and Capitalism, and then the Red horse to, let’s say the cold war, or war on Communism… then we would assume the green horse is still to come in our future, or on the horizon now. It could work, it just seems the white horse covers 1950 years, and then you have to squeeze all 3 of the others into the last 75 years.

In keeping with the line of reasoning we had in chapter 5, the seals are hiding pieces of the future (and possibly some of that “future” to John is now in our past), and those pieces of the future are revealed one at a time, in succession. This makes the most sense to me, but I don’t think we can do this same thing with the trumpets and bowls. Because, what we will see later on, is that the Trumpets talk about thinks that cannot happen after the 7 seals. For example, one Trumpet says we will lose a 3rd of the Sun, and a 3rd of the Stars, and a 3rd of the Moon.

Revelation 8:12 ESV

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

Now, tell me how that can happen AFTER:

Revelation 6:12–14 ESV

So, what we will see, in my opinion, is that the 7 Seals represent the whole of time from Christ’s first coming until His second coming. But, the 7 Trumpets, and 7 Bowls, are overlapping each other, and occur sometime before the 7th Seal.

Nothing can really happen after the 7th Seal. The Earth is gone. So, we cannot read it as if it is all chronological. We must realize that John is seeing different parts of the future from different angles.

1. The Seal of Conquest

Revelation 6:1–2 ESV

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.

So, what is the white horse, and his rider?

Jesus, no, I don’t think so.

Antichrist, I doubt it.

Wars? Most likely…

Here’s how I came to my conclusion. When we look at what Jesus says, and compare it to what John sees, we start to see an outline of the same events. We won’t do that Just yet, but I’ll do it at the end.. and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Revelation 6:1 ESV

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!”

First, I want you to notice only one seal is opened at a time, like we have discussed.

It is one of the four living creatures that says come, and those we have identified as a representation of the best of God’s creation. Those four angels. Each of the first 4 seals has one of the 4 angels say “Come”.

Is he saying “come” to John?

Is he saying “come” to the rider of the horse?

Is he saying “come” to someone else?

Let that question marinate for a minute.

Revelation 6:2 ESV

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.

So, this white horse has a bow. This represents war. He has a crown. This represents Kingdoms and Kinghood. He came out conquering and to conquer. This means that even when the kings have already built a kingdom, they want more. This age of conquest has been the default mode of civilization since the tower of Babel, and didn’t really end until the Germans were defeated in 1945.

Kingdom vs Kingdom has repeated over and over for centuries.

2. Secure in Times of Division

Revelation 6:3–4 ESV

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.

Verse 3, the second seal is followed by a second creature saying Come. This is repeated for the 1st 4 seals.

Here we see a bright red horse. The great sword also represents war. But this war is not the same as the white horse. The goal isn’t to conquer kingdoms. It is to conquer each other. This is civil war. When people “slay one another”. The war is not about taking land. It isn’t a battle of conquest. It is a battle of divisions. This type of division “takes peace”. Many wars are fought in the past to protect peace, or to find peace, but the war of the red horse is specifically designed to take peace from peaceful people.

This isn’t kingdom against kingdom. It sounds more like people versus people…

3. Spiritual Sustenance in Scarcity

Revelation 6:5–6 ESV

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!”

Revelation 6:5 ESV

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.

Again we see a 3rd living creature saying “Come”.

This time there is a black horse with scales.

Scales can represent judgement, but in this case, it appears to represent commerce based on what happens next…

Revelation 6:6 ESV

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!”

So, I’ve always envisioned a scene of the stock market floor, or the game of “Pit”. Anyone played that game?

I totally understand the connection to capitalism here, if you picture the stock market, but we aren’t trading portions of companies here. It isn’t stock in fortune 500 companies. It is basic needs.

Wheat and Barley were staples to their diet. Trading them for money means they are in a famine. We see this in Egypt during the 7 years of famine predicted by the dream Joseph interpreted for the Pharaoh… People came from all over to buy grain from Egypt. They had to buy it because they could not grow it. If they could grow it, they would have no cause to spend money on basic grains. So, we are in a famine here. Or, we are at least in a time when people would use money to buy food more than they would grow it themselves… sounds a bit like today.

The cost of the wheat and barely is also a clue. A denarius is a days wage, and a quart of wheat is a days worth of food. So, essentially, they worked a whole day to earn their meals. Imagine if a quart of wheat cost your entire day’s paycheck. For context, a bushel of wheat only cost $6 right now. A bushel is about 37 quarts. So, this scene is depicting outrageously high inflation. Like even we have never seen.. and so, we must assume this is in the future, but based on what we are seeing with prices now, it might not be too far into the future.

The last bit there about the oil and wine. It seems this is a symbol of the wealthy. While the common folks will be paying a day’s wage for basic dietary staples, the wealthy will still live in luxury. You won’t be able to touch their oil and wine… seems as though gas prices might be higher and higher before the end. It may get very hard to live like we are living now.

But I must interject a reminder here… Jesus is in control of the seals. He is has all this planned out. He is coming soon, so don’t let anything going on around us, wars, rumors of wars, high inflation, or famine discourage you. We will win in the end. That is the point of this book. It might look bad today, and maybe worse tomorrow, but soon and very soon, we are going to see the KING!

Don’t let go of that Promise!

4. Promise Beyond Pale Peril

Revelation 6:7–8 ESV

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.

Again, the fourth seal is followed by the fourth living creature’s call of “Come”.

Then we see a pale horse.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. χλωρός

χλωρός (Chlorus) - 4 time is the Bible

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. χλωρός

pale, greenish gray (cp. the relatively paler appearance of the dorsal side of a leaf compared to its ventral side) as the color of a pers. in sickness contrasted with appearance in health

Translated as green in many places, including two other times in Revelation. Often used in reference to Grass. 3 out of 4 times, it us used about grass. Only here is it used to define the color of a horse.

So, other than being named Death, and being followed by hell, we do not know what this horseman does unless the “they” refers to Death and Hades. Hades, here means the Grave. So Death and the Grave are now about to do something. I said earlier that the “they” could refer to all 4 horsemen, but I do think it only applies to this 4th one. Otherwise our theory about one seal being opened at a time being a chronological unfolding of future events (from John’s perspective), because if “they” applies to all 4 horsemen, then “they” are running around at the same time, and not sequentially.

One other idea is that they do start coming one at a time, but then don’t leave when the next horse appears. So, by the end, “they” are all 4 creating havoc.

So, that’s not a bad theory, but then what does “Death” and the Grave even do? They are just there?

Seems like this final horse is possibly a culmination of all 4 horses, and could represent the start of the great tribulation. Perhaps, the first 3.5 years of it. I’m not sure. Whatever the time period though, it seems to be a bad time for anyone on the earth. Bad enough that the 5th seal is a cry for Justice.

5. Cry for Divine Justice

Revelation 6:9–11 ESV

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.

So, at this point, there are still believers on earth. Verse 11 proves it. It says… “…who were to be killed…”, and it is talking about believers still on earth.

Meaning, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd seal, and 4th seal, as bad as it sounds, all occurs before the rapture.

All 4 seals had a one of the living creatures crying “Come”. John was already there, and the horsemen were just words on a page John read. The “come” seems to be a cry for Jesus to come… and the 5th seal is the culmination of that cry. All the dead saints cry out for justice. Let’s see the response to that cry.

6. Response to the Cry

Revelation 6:12–17 ESV

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?”

Here we see the “Day of Wrath”. This appears to be the end of the earth, and battle of Armageddon. Which is immediatly following the second coming of Jesus. All along they have been crying “Come”, and then the 6th seal appears to be a response to that Cry. Jesus Comes.

And, if you remember Matt 24, the church is gone by that time. So, this explains why everyone left on earth is running to hide from the Lamb. They mourn, the Bible says, when Jesus returns. So, we can’t be here because we would not mourn, and we would not hide. We would rejoice, and we would run toward Jesus, not toward the mountains.

So, somewhere between Seal 5 and Seal 6, The church is gone IMO.

When? No one knows the day or the hour.

There is no description of Seal 5.5.

Now, the seals are an overview of endtime events. However, as I will show you as this study progresses, the trumpets and bowls are more of a microscopic view of certain events. We will keep peeling back layers of the Revelation. It isn’t completely chronological from this point on.

Matt 24

(If time permits…)

As promised, we will glance back at Matt 24, and see how it lines up.

Matthew 24:3–14 ESV

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Then Jesus talks about the Antichrist, but then comes back to the second coming in verse 19…

Matthew 24:29 ESV

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Revelation 6:12 ESV

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,

If you keep reading in M-24, and comparing it to R-6 you will see the exact same things. They line up perfectly. So, John is seeing a vision of exactly what Jesus said would happen before His return.

Kingdom vs Kingdom = White Horse

Nation vs Nation, lawlessness = Red Horse

Famines = Black Horse

Death and Disease = Pale/Green Horse.

Persecution = 5th Seal

Sun/moon/stars Darkened = 6th Seal

Trumpet and return of Jesus = 7th Seal, which we will see in chapter 8.

If I had to take one guess, and my life depended on it. I believe we are at the start of the 4th seal. We have seen major inflation in the last couple years, and it is possible we may see even greater inflation in the coming years, which would be the perfect platform for someone to come in and introduce a solution, and a way to buy and sell things without the highly inflated dollar.

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