The Race Toward Ruin | Revelation 6

Please Open your bibles to Revelation 6.

Last week I did a lot of table setting for this and following sermons as we consider what Gad has revealed for us, and this week we get to jump back into the verse by verse exposition of God’s Word.

As I noted last week, this section is a heavy section, with lots of symbolic imagery. But one of things that I noted was that there are points along the way that allow us time to catch our breath, which we will need.

And I have to note... I had a realization come upon me.

I was reflecting on the sermon text this week, and I realized on Friday afternoon that I happened to preaching Revelation 6 today, which contains the famed four horsemen of the apocalypse, the day after the KY derby. Not something that I had planned, but providentially here we are. Just for fun I was looking at the names of the KY Derby horses and a few stuck out to me.

03 - Final Gambit

15 - Render Judgment

18 - Sovereignty - who of course was the winner.

I’m in not way claiming any kind of significance to these names or the fact that Sovereignty won, but I do find it mildly amusing that some of the themes reflected in Rev 6 and following correlate with some of those names in the derby.

Final Gambit. The last chance for many!

Render Judgment. That is what the Lord will be doing!

Sovereignty. That is what god is exercising over the earth, and it is critically important to remember that. Even as the world is going to descend into chaos, it is not because God is not longer exercising his sovereignty over the world. But it is a further demonstration of his power over the earth.

In today’s text we will find out what happens when God’s hand of restraint is removed from the earth. We find chaos, martyrdom, and fear. And yet, limits and mercy to some.

Allow me to read today texts, the entirety of Revelation 6.

Revelation 6 LSB

Then I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” Then I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to overcome. And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sits on it, it was given to him to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” Then I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sits on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “One choinix of wheat for one denarius, and three choinix of barley for one denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine.” And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” Then I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and he who sits on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the witness which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Master, holy and true? Will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And a white robe was given to each of them; and it was told to them that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence 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 is able to stand?”

As we walked through Chapter 5, we noted the seven-sealed scroll in the Almighty’s hand, and no one was found who could open the scroll. Then the Lamb who had been slain was presented as worthy and he took the scroll, and here in chapter 6 the seals are broken one by one.

The first four seals are the four horsemen. With the 5th seal, John saw the martyred tribulation saints crying out.

With the 6th seal, great cosmic signs occurred and people ran and hid in caves for fear of the wrath of God.

Let’s begin to see what God intends to do on the earth.

First, we find the four famed horsemen.

The first four seals are four horsemen. As each seal is broken we find a similar formula:

A broken seal, and command to come, a rider on a horse, and ensuing judgment.

The first horseman comes riding a white horse.

The white horse stands as a symbol of victory, as does the crown on his head. A month or so ago I noted that Revelation uses to words for crowns. One is diadem, and reflects sovereignty. That is not used here. The other is stephanos, which is a victor’s crown given to one who gains victory in a contest or war.

Here this rider is clearly accomplishing his purposes and gaining victory. It says he came out overcoming and to overcome, which could also be translated as “conquering and to conquer”

This seems to be a representation of the arrival of the Antichrist. When Daniel spoke of the a ruler who was to come in Dan 11 he said this:

Daniel 11:36 LSB

“Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak astonishing things against the God of gods; and he will succeed until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.

The antichrist will come on the scene, and he will accomplish something incredible on the face of the earth. He will conquer and achieve incredible victory. There is debate about the manner in which he achieves victory, but much of that is speculative to me. The importance point is that he gains victory and he does so quickly and decisively. He brings at least come degree of military stability to the earth, because in the next seal we see that stability taken away.

The second seal in vs 3-4 contains a red horse. Red being the color of blood. As this rider went out, we see that he has authority to take peace from the earth, that men would slay one another. He had a great sword.

The peace that seemed to be in place has now been taken away. Men will slay one another. There will be strife. Civil war. international war.

As the third seal is opened there comes a rider on a black horse. He has a pair of scales in his hand. Ironically, scales often symbolize prosperity and plenty, or sometimes the concept of justice and fairness. Here they symbolize extreme famine.

One choinix of wheat for one denarius. three choinix for one denarius.

Where the LSB says Choinix, most translations says quart. This was a Greek measurement that was roughly today’s quart or a liter. A denarius was a days wage.

The point here is that a famine was to come that would be so devastating that you could work all day and only purchase one quart of wheat to make some bread.

the phrase “do not harm the oil and wine” is sometimes taken as a statement of limitation on the extent of the famine, or that it shows class inequality because while the poor will barely be able to scrape enough together to get by, the rich will have their oil and wine.

The problem with this view is that oil and wine were considered part of the necessities back in those days rather than luxuries only for the wealthy.

Rather than the voice putting a limitation on the rider, it makes more sense in the context to say that this is a command to the people of the earth: make sure you are careful with your oil and wine, because it will be scarce as well. Don’t harm it. don’t spoil it.

We eat a lot of eggs as a family. When egg prices jumped crazy high I did some math about the increase to our grocery budget that eggs alone represented. I was shocked, and that wasn’t even the peak at that time. It forced us to make some adjustments.

Grocery prices remain high for us all today, considering what we have enjoyed in the recent past. But that is nothing compared with the famine that is going to come on the earth during these days.

1 quart of wheat, once milled, can make roughly 2 loaves of bread. Imagine a world where your daily wages can only purchase two loaves of bread.

Extreme famine. Extreme shortages. Be careful with your oil, because once it’s gone. It’s gone.

The fourth seal is then opened and a pale horse comes. Some translations say green horse, or pale green horse. This horseman has some diversity about him. His name is death, and hades follows him. Hades was considered the abode of the dead. The picture is clear here. with this horseman comes much death.

1/4 of the earth suffers and dies at his hands, and in a variety of ways. Sword. pestilence. some translations say plague. and by wild beasts.

This fourth seal seems to represent the chaos that results upon the earth from the first three seals. Increasing war, famine, and deteriorating social conditions leads to such a breakdown upon the earth that death follows for many.

Many are killed by the sword. Pestilence, or disease kills others. wild beasts have their way as well. Either society will deteriorate so much that they will lack the ability to fend off wild beasts as they wander into civilization, or else civilization will be more spread out and remote and close to the wild beasts, or perhaps the wild beasts themselves will feel the effects of the famine and will become more aggressive as they also struggle to find sufficient food and will resort to attacking humanity, whatever the case, there will be many who die as a result of encounters with wild beasts.

Things are rapidly deteriorating on the earth and the world has been plunged into chaos.

What is that cause such chaos to develop so quickly?

This is part of what happens when God’s hand of restraint is removed.

2 Thessalonians 2:6–7 LSB

And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

What we begin to see here during this tribulation period is the removal of God’s hand of restraint and the resulting chaos that comes on the earth.

When God’s hand of restraint is removed, chaos ensues.

This is true throughout all of human history. The places on earth furthest from the influence of biblical teaching are the places with the lowest morals and the most chaos. It is inevitable. This is Romans 1 on steroids. God turning over people to their sin, but here it is not just in an individual’s heart and life, but rather all of society and even the earth itself.

When God’s hand of restraint is removed, chaos ensues.

But we must be careful to remember that though God’s hand of restraint was removed, it is not as though God has become a passive character.

Removal of restraint does not mean removal of God’s sovereignty.

With each horseman, there was command from the living creatures: Come! This was not a command to John to come see, but rather a command to the horsemen to come forth and do their thing.

Even the imagery of horsemen is drawn from Zechariah 6 where God has four chariots with four horses of different colors and they commanded to patrol the earth. In that context, it seems as though the meaning is that they are sent symbolizing God’s rule and sovereignty over the earth. Though there are differences between the horses of Zech 6 and Rev 6, the connection helps us remember that these are God’s horsemen. They obey his command. Though they bring chaos, they do not communicate negligence on God’s part. They are under his rule.

We see this how each horseman is described. The first was given a crown. The second it was given to take peace. The fourth has authority given to him.

This is God’s judgment. Though God’s hand of restraint is removed, God’s hand of judgment has taken its place.

The fact that God in still in control during this time is also evident in the next seal.

As the next seal is opened, John sees the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the witness they maintain.

Now here is an interesting thing. According to our understanding of the whole of Scripture, the church is removed from the earth prior to these events. How then is it that faithful people are found on the earth during this time?

This shows us the mercy of God even in judgment.

When the church is removed, that does not remove the Bible from the earth. There will be people who pick it up and read it and see what’s happening and conclude. Hey. This bible thing is true!

Other places in revelation speak of witnesses that God is going to preserve through this time who will bear witness to the truth. Later on we will also read of angelic witnesses who proclaim truth.

So even during a time of intense distress that leads to worldwide chaos, there will still be those who come to faith. God will still be saving rebel sinners!

Here those who had been martyred up to this point cry out to God: How long will you let this go on??

This echos many prayers of Psalmists and other prophets. How long o lord?

A lament yearning for God to accomplish perfect justice and avenge those who have died for His sake.

And an answer is given:

They are given a white rode, signifying their purity before the Lord, and they are told to rest a little while longer.

Until when?

until the number of the fellow slaves and their brother who were to be killed even as they had been would be completed also.

There is a limit to the days.

When God’s hand of restraint gives way to judgment, he still limits the days

The grammar of this verse seems to imply two groups of people. 1. the fellow slaves. 2 the brother who would be killed even as these martyrs had been.

The second group would certainly be entirely within the first group, but not all of the first group necessarily find their end in the martyrdom.

This remind us of a great truth: God intends to save more individuals. Even in his judgment, he saves. And the encouragement to the tribulation saints is to hold on for a little while longer, implying that that God will not withhold his vengeance forever.

With these first 5 seals, you may recall our time in working through the book of Mark and Jesus’ statements about what was to come.

He spoke of wars and rumors of wars. earthquakes, famines. etc. He says in

Mark 13:8 LSB

“These things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

Jesus went on to talk about the suffering of tribulation saints and that those who follow Christ will be hated.

As he talks about the abomination of desolation at the midpoint of the tribulation, he says

Mark 13:20 LSB

“And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

Here in Rev 6, we see a similar comfort. The days will not last forever. God is still saving and preserving, refining and purifying. Hold on a little while longer.

And that takes us to the sixth seal.

Earthquakes. Sun darkened. Moon looks like blood. Stars fell. Sky rolled up. mountains and islands moved.

Some of you have felt earthquakes.

We have all seen eclipses. In recent years the blood moons made a stir as people pointed to these verses. Clearly those weren’t the fulfillment of this here, or else we’d not be here.

Some have tried to explain all these details as entirely natural phenomena. Severe, but natural. Others have said its purely symbolic of the ongoing destabilization of the world.

I’m not sure we can account for all the details from a purely naturalistic standpoint, but I don’t see language here to tell me that it’s purely symbolic.

It’s one thing to have an eclipse. Eclipses don’t explain the terror. It seems that there is going to be some severe and miraculous cosmic activity that is going to rend the heavens the shake the earth with such force, that it is going to cause even the wealthiest and most powerful people on the earth to cower in terror and recognize that the wrath of God has come upon them. It’s going to be so severe that they would rather have rocks crush their bodies than stand before the Lamb.

I’m not going to pretend to know what that looks like. But it will unmistakable.

There is a bit of irony to their words. They desire to hide from the wrath of the lamb.

The lamb. The one who died to bring life. The one whose sacrifice was sufficient to save them. The one who is still saving others even during this time.

And rather than come to him in the proper fear of the Lord, they cower and hide in terror.

Because even though the Lamb was slain for the world, he does bare his wrath, and he will rule with the rod of iron as Ps 2 speaks.

When God’s hand of restraint gives way to judgment, many will choose fear over faith

The final question asked to close the chapter is so powerful: who is able to stand?

Who is able to stand?

No one!

Who can stand before a thrice holy God?

Who dares approach the throne of the almighty?

Who can walk up to the Lamb?

What we must realize is that this question not only applies during the great tribulation, but it applies to today!

When you meet your maker, how will you stand before him??

Brothers and sisters, if you do not stand with the righteousness of Christ as your covering, you will not stand at all.

If you do not stand on the basis of your faith in the Lamb who was slain, you will not stand before him in his wrath but will be crushed and ground into the dirt from which you came.

You are not trusting in the finish work of Christ on the cross and the only means of forgiveness of your sins, you will not stand.

And it would be better for you to be crushed by falling rocks than face the Lamb on your own merit.

Where is your hope today?

I recently shared with someone that I heard you could avoid hell by repeating a prayer. I thought that sounded good so I did it. Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner. I believe you died on the cross for my sin. Please come into my heart and saved me. Something like that.

For a decade I believed I was saved on the basis of that prayer. As I grew older I fell into patterns of sin and I was racked by guilt and shame that I simply could not shake until one day I was confronted with the reality that my faith wasn’t in Jesus at all. My faith was in a prayer that I prayed, as if it was a magic formula or incantation.

How are we to respond.

Brothers and sisters, this is a devastating passage.

If Christ were to come for his church today, many family and friends would be left to endure this. Does that break your heart?

Even now, we see the effects of someone who has so harden their hearts in unbelief, there is such chaos in their lives and many choose fear over faith. Terror fear over the proper fear of the Lord.

Even now that breaks our hearts when we see that in an individual’s life.

Take that and multiply by it millions and the effects of that upon the entire earth.

This is why we emphasize evangelism so much, about needed to get the word out to people so that they may repent while they still can.

And then to us sitting here today. I challenge us.

Where is your faith today?

Are we here just playing church? Will there be a day when the Lord catches home those who are his, and you are left behind?