Revelation Chapter 6

Hello there and welcome to our 192nd episode of Kids Bible Minute. I’m your host Landon Rowell and I’m also the local preacher for the church of Christ in Ramona, OK. I’m so thankful you have decided to study God’s precious Word with me this day and I hope you have your Bible with you while we have our Bible study. Also, because I don’t want you simply taking my word for what we will be studying I would like for you to open your Bible up to each verse I mention and read that verse for yourself so you can see God’s Word personally. Most of the time I will read the verses too so you can read along with me when I do. So when I mention a verse just pause this podcast, open your Bible to that passage, read that verse and then unpause the podcast and read along with me as I read the verse out loud. If you are new to our study, first I want to say thank you for studying with us and secondly I want to let you know that you can reach all archived or past episodes easily at ramonacofc.com in the podcast section where there is a direct link to Kids Bible Minute past episodes. Now, as most of you know we have been studying from the book of Revelation and having last week looked at chapter 5 wherein we found the Lamb of God the only worthy one to take the scroll from the Father we find in Revelation chapter 6 Jesus, the lamb, opening six of the seven seals of the scroll. Before we dive into this, up to this point, the symbolism has been fairly easy to understand. From this point on the symbolism gets much harder if you don’t have a solid biblical understanding of the New Testament, specifically of the church as the kingdom of Christ. On my website gospel-preacher.com there is a link to an old sermon under “Fundamentals Of The Church” titled “The Kingdom” which explains the different uses of the word “kingdom” in the Bible and specifically how the church is the kingdom of Christ. So, having read this chapter you have seen the first four seals being that of a horse & it’s rider. First, we have the white horse & it’s rider who came out conquering and to conquer. White always represents purity and holiness in the Bible, the bow represents fighting, and the crown is one of victory not royalty. This is represents the gospel message being spread and conquering lives. Remember God’s Word is meant to “pull down the strongholds of sin in the spiritual war we are fighting” () while God’s message or arrows are meant to hit the heart of a person and change their lives (). Hence the gospel message is being declared here. This next 3 seals are the consequences of the gospel message conquering. God has always said righteousness begets persecution (; ). The red horse and his rider is war against righteousness even unto death (; ). The black horse and it’s rider represent economic persecution that took place against Christians. Notice weights are 10 times that of normal. We will see later on that Rome, during this time, made it either illegal to sell goods to Christians or charge them sums no one could afford, in other words they blacklisted God’s children from the markets. The pale horse is interesting because this color is that of a pale green or the color of a dead person. Thus, we have the pale horse with the rider Death. During this time Christians were being starved, murdered, left to die in prison and many other things. Thus, we find in the first four seals, the faithful that teach and preach the gospel will suffer great things at the hands of those that are followers of Satan and sin. The following two seals are a response to the first four. Look at .

Revelation 6:9–10 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?”

These are the martyrs, those that had been killed for obey God. Notice there is nothing wrong with wanting justice against sin and those that love it, but that is a far cry from wanting vengeance and the loss of souls in hell. God tells them they must wait “a little longer, until the number is complete.” God always has a plan and it wasn’t time for Him to exact justice yet, but God is clear in the sixth seal, justice is coming. Notice the language in verses 12-14. This is common language for God’s judgement upon a nation (; ; Joel 3:31; ). The sixth seal declares this judgement is going to be so severe that those persecuting the church will beg to die instead of dealing with it verses 15-16. So, chapters 4-6 have set the stage for the rest of the book. God has a message (scroll), Jesus, the Lamb, is the one worthy of explaining the message, and that message is going to be fully realized throughout the rest of the book.

Well, that concludes this Bible study for today. As always, I want to thank you for studying God's precious Word with me and I want to encourage you to continue to study God's Word every day. Be sure to use the wonderful material and other podcasts made available through the BWM App or website at biblewaymedia.org. I also personally have a website at gospel-preacher.com. Of course, make sure you ask your parents if it is ok by them before you download the app or go to those websites. I also encourage you to contact me personally with question about the Bible at the Ramona church of Christ email address [e-mail] or through our Facebook Page. Make sure you message the Ramona church of Christ in OK not California. Until we have an opportunity to meet again, peace be with you in Christ Jesus our Lord.