Six Seals Opened
Notes
Transcript
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
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.
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.
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!”
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.
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. 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?” 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.
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, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 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, 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, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
The seals first give us the four horsemen of the apocalypse. As the first seal is opened, one of the four created beings calls forth the first. If your translation says Come and see in verse 1, they have taken the stance the created being is calling John to come see what is happening. Probably less in keeping with what was happening in the vision.
First Seal - Antichrist. If this is the specific, strict timing of the Great Tribulation then this is the counterfeit Christ, the anti-version of the real thing. The crown this figure wears is the stephanos not the diadem (kingly crown) Jesus wears in Rev 19. The antichrist could never wear the diadem, it uniquely belongs to the Son of God. But we would expect the counterfeit to look similar to the real thing. After all, he will be deceiving even Israel when he comes.
Second Seal - War. The red horse and rider will take peace from the earth and the red is symbolic of the bloodshed of war. Let me remind us these spirits have been in the world since Cain killed Abel, but through all the passing of time, God has remained ulitmately in control.
Third Seal - Famine. Black is connected with famine by the prophet Jeremiah. Famine and war go together because where armies fight there is always a shortage of food. Governments will ration and buying enough to exist on will take all the money people can make. There are still some of you who remember a time like this in our past. The Great Depression was a time where war and famine created something similar to what is described here. Famine will just grease the skids for the Antichrist to have more power, as he will promise to feed the masses.
Fourth Seal - Death. There are two sights at the opening of this seal. Death on a pale horse and the realm of the dead following him. It is said that death will claim the body then hades can claim the soul. But this is only true outside the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross. We were reminded in Revelation 1 He owns the keys of death and hades, so all who receive salvation have been redeemed from such a fate.
These four seals are ominous. Anyone who doesnt belong to Jesus would read these with a sense of dread. But for the believer, this must be a source of encouragement because we remember it is the Lamb who is opening the seals. The Lamb stepping forth to open them reminds us God’s purposes will be accomplished.
The next two seals are responses to the first four: First by the martyrs in heaven then by those living through what is happening on earth.
Martyrs - unlikely this is all the martyrs from all of time. More likely these are the witnesses to Christ that come out of the tribulation. Those who shed the blood of the martyrs of old have already met their fate. These martyrs are crying out, asking God how long before He would judge those who killed these. Which alludes to their killers still being alive. So these martyrs are those who turned to Christ in the tribulation and were killed for doing so.
What they were asking for, while in the presence of the Throne, was for God to be true to His character. Specifically His willingness to avenge. Jesus told us in Luke 18 God would avenge those who were without justice, so this is an appropriate response.
Those on earth - these folks are seeing the fabric of society, government and nature itself being torn apart. The prophet Joel wrote about this in ch2. As did Isaiah in ch34. When the most desirable real estate on earth becomes caves and holes in the ground, this old world will be a bad place to be. ALthough powerful up to this point, v.16 shows us as they recognize the power of God they will cry for help.
Draw connection between this chapter and Matthew 24:4-13
Matthew 24, Revelation 6,
False Christs vv4-5. White horse rider vv1-2
Wars v6. Red horse of war vv3-4
Famines v7a. Black horse of famine vv5-6
Death vv7b-8. Pale horse of death vv7-8
Martyrs v9. Martyrs vv9-11
Worldwide chaos vv10-13. Worldwide chaos vv12-17
God is ultimately in control!
Timing - These seals will not be broken until God says it is time. Even in the vision, nothing comes forth before it is called. And where does permission to call for Death and Hades come from? It comes from Jesus having the keys to both!
Extent - There are limits, boundaries placed even in this chaotic scene. All this is still happening in view of the emerald rainbow around the throne. We said two weeks ago the rainbow reminds us of God’s limits on judgement. Self-imposed. Even the Great Tribulation will not be uncontrolled wrath. It will still have the purpose of judgement toward redemption. The martyrs point us to those who proclaim the gospel even in the GT. Chapter 7 will reveal the remnant of Israel who believes in the Messiah. Redemption.
So how does mankind escape the wrath of God? By surrendering to the Love/Mercy/Forgiveness of God. Have you?