The Seven Seals

A Glimpse into Reality

John once again is given a glimpse into the reality of existence. He sees the interaction between the spiritual and the physical.

The picture of the four horsemen is not a new picture. In Zechariah, these same four horsemen described here are seen as the four winds. And it is described by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-14

Matthew 24:4–14 (NIV)

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

These are agents of God’s wrath that have always and will continue to be at work throughout time. The white horse of deception. The red horse of war. The black horse of poverty. The pale horse of death. These are realities throughout human history but John sees them at work in human history. These are met with localized physical judgments as well like persecution and natural disaster.

There is nothing new under the sun. This has a significant impact then on our understanding of what lies ahead.

The Ultimate Reality

Revelation 7:1–4 (NIV)

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Just as there was no one to open the scroll, there is once again a question on who can hold back the reign of terror of the four horsemen. Once again, our answer is Christ.

Our overcomer has already overcome. He is the truth that we cling to so that we will not be led astray. He is our peace that quells the rage in our very souls. He is provider who secures our hope in tomorrow in His perfect provision. He is the conquerer of death that reminds our hearts that there is no more sting.