[Revelation 6]
The dramatic course of history is about to commence. The worthy One is breaking the seals and all the consequences of sin overwhelm the earth and its inhabitants. A thunderous voice calls the four horses to disperse their destiny over the earth.
The horse in this chapter is a metaphor for an unstoppable flow of events, divided roughly into four categories of disaster.
The horses of the Apocalypse as they are often called, have been the dramatic theme in many movies and scary stories. A horse is a magnificent creature in God’s creation and the words of Job echoes through so many centuries as horses were the faithful companions for everything man had to do.
Hear what God says about a horse:
Have you given the horse strength?
Have you clothed his neck with thunder?
Can you frighten him like a locust?
His majestic snorting strikes terror.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He gallops into the clash of arms.
He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;
Nor does he turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him,
The glittering spear and javelin.
He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;
Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’
He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of captains and shouting. (Job 39:19-25)
Since the earliest times horses roamed the earth and were harnessed into service and battle. Scholars agree that the inhabitants of the Eurasian Steppes were the first to tame horses over 6000 years ago. Until quite recently, wild horses in swift gallops were a familiar scene in most unexploited natural environments. These days wild horses are protected to retain their distinct characteristics of speed and strength.
Any horse handler has a colourful story of taming a horse. Wild horses are not easily tameable. Taming a horse is a process that requires patience and perseverance. The course of action is often painful – for the horse and the man. They often talk of breaking a horse. All his old habits of running free and wild, living on his birth instincts without bridle and fence, have to be broken and forgotten, to guide him into full and unconditional obedience to his master.
The image of horses running across the world, was a way to portray the fierce and vicious brutality of sin. Wild horses trample their enemy, rearing up with a sound that brings man to his knees in fright, running away with no hope of catching up. Wild horses are quietly tricked into confined spaces with the goal of catching only one.
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5)
We often have to deal with our habitual sin the same way. In prayer and determined self-control, we tackle our bondage piece by piece and break the chains of our sinful nature. It is a slow, single-minded process to bridle and saddle our wild horse into full submission and obedience to our spirit-man, with the wonder-working power of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Here we are in Revelation 6 where John sees the image of the first four seals. The One on the Throne is in control of everything and sin would be ultimately used to accomplish His purpose as the Redeemer of mankind.
Natural disasters are here depicted as judgments for sin. The destructive nature is overwhelming and death follows in its wake. Judgment is always an invitation to redemption. It is grace to waken the people of the earth and break their death march of sin.
Any situation of suffering has a double application – it punishes unbelievers but it also purifies believers. It also shows suffering does not occur indiscriminately of by chance. All judgment is divinely commissioned. (Zechariah 6:7) Also the four horses here.
In the exhortations to the seven churches they are encouraged to persevere in suffering. It is in the brokenness of the earth and the need for a miracle that God’s true nature of love and grace shines the brightest.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience [steadfastness and endurance]. (James 1:2,3)
Ezekiel (14:21-23) mentions the four severe judgments against Jerusalem. Jesus talked about the same: war, famine and persecution. (Matthew 24:6-28)
Zechariah (6:1-8) describes the four horses in the exact colours of Revelation as symbols and types of destruction. Here is the Amplified translation:
Now again I looked up, and four chariots [four angelic spirits appointed by God to dispense His judgment] were coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of [firm, immovable] bronze (divine judgment). The first chariot had red horses(war, bloodshed), the second chariot had black horses (famine, death), the third chariot had white horses (victory), and the fourth chariot had strong dappled horses (death through judgment).
The number four (like the horsemen) is a figurative number for universality. In Daniel 7 he describes the four beasts representing evil kingdoms waging war on the saints. So also the four winds of heaven. (Revelation 7:1; Danie 7:2; Zechariah 6:5)
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
White horse. The bow and arrow are symbols of war and conquest. Christ is never depicted with a bow, always with a sword. The blood is spilled to gain victory in political strife of which history is the record. The crown (stephanos) is the reward for success in war. The figure in white is an imitation of Christ, further alluding to the satanic nature of the rider. Revelation 9:7 likens demonic agents like horses with crowns.
Psalm 18:34: He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
The crown is stephanos, which is a victor’s crown. (Diadem = royal crown) Roman victories celebrated with a parade in which the victorious general rides a white horse. Military conquest is always bloody and tragic.
The synoptic Gospels all talk about false prophets and false Christ’s to mislead before Christ’s return. (Matthew 24:4,5; Mark 13:5,6; Luke 21:8)
The white horse is a satanic force to oppress believer through deception and persecution. The power in politics is part of the deception to keep from the focus on the true king and leader.
When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
The red horse represents war and strife. Peace is taken away with the sword. Human relationships are broken down and the world is a “seething cauldron of embittered hate.” [Barclay]
Peace is the greatest blessing that could only come from God. Satan can never give it. Peace can never be faked or obtained by fraudulent means. It is a direct and powerful consequence of a godly life. At the crucifixion of the Prince of Peace the world (the crowd at the trial before Pilate) chose Barabbas, the violent murderer. That is the characteristic of history the past two thousand years.
Christ gives peace with the sword of the Word. His promises calm the brokenness and pain even within strife. (Hebrews 4:12)
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard 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 the wine.”
The black horse depicts scarcity of commodities. Scales were used to determine quantity and symbolize the lack of abundance. There were three main crops in Israel: corn, wine and oil. (Deuteronomy 7:13, 11:14, 28:51 and Hosea 2:8,22.)
To measure bread by weight indicates scarcity – Leviticus 26:26, Ezekiel 4:16.
It is not only about the rule of economics in history, but also the scarcity of true, divine knowledge. (Isaiah 55) More often than not there is a general scarcity of spiritual food. With spiritual insight we know that the people of this world hunger for the bread of life, which would fill the gap in their souls.
It is possible to have wine and oil (symbolic of luxury goods) and no corn. The vines for grapes and the olive trees were deeply rooted and could yield their crop even in drought. A denarius was a labourer’s working wage for a day. The price of the corn would cost all he has for himself – nothing more. It implies that he cannot provide for his family. It is a tragic state of affairs and prevalent all over the world.
During the reign of the Caesar Domitian there was a shortage of corn and an oversupply of wine. It sets famine alongside luxury.
It is a vivid picture of the world throughout history, especially today.
In contrast with the scarcity on earth the four living creatures around the Throne are symbolic of the full provision of nature. Nature itself provides enough, but the reign of man causes shortages so that its provision is thwarted and cannot reach everybody.
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
The pale horse represents pestilence and death. (6:8)
He has authority over a fourth part of the earth. It means the disaster is huge, but limited. His colour is described with the word chloros, which means ashen or pale as a person in fright or terror. The death horse kills with the sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts. (Ezekiel14:21)
Ezekiel (14:12-23) describes how the wild beasts – some scholars name drugs and destructive social media as examples of these beasts – will steal children echoing the Scripture in Leviticus of the sword that will avenge the breaking of the Covenant, pestilence will break out in the cities and break the staff of bread so that they eat but are not satisfied. (Leviticus 26:21-26)
Again we see the consequence of sin. Where terror reigns there can be no happiness and joy. Psalm 128 paints the contrasting picture of fruit on your labour and blessings for your children. All six verses spell out the wonders of God’s blessing.
For you shall eat the fruit of your hands. You will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you. (Psalm 128:2)
I am sure we agree that the “wild beasts” of our day still steal our children? Greed, sexual sin, power, immorality, worship of money, addictions, to name a few, are beasts stealing and killing the children.
Hades was the dwelling place of the dead. It is possible to be dead before actual death. The living dead, the walking dead who dwell in death while in this life are amongst us, living in hell with no awareness of the wonders of the Presence of our Father.
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 testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
The fifth seal is called the cry of the martyrs. The original meaning of the word martyr was witness. So many of Christ’s witnesses were persecuted and killed, especially at the time of the early church, that the word was used exclusively for people losing their life for what they believe in.
There is an altar in heaven – thus in the Presence of God and therefore under divine protection. It is heaven’s pattern that established the Tabernacle and Temple on earth. The souls of the martyrs will cry for God’s vindication, not vengeance. They will cry because of God’s seemingly inactivity, but with confidence of ultimate action and victory.
They cry: How long? Before the final judgment comes in the sixth seal. The judgment is on the people who persecute the Christians. It is also in the disasters that the martyrs (witnesses) LIVE their faith and illustrate to the whole world and all the earth-dwellers (unbelievers) how great God is.
The people who are so fixated on the Second Coming are also crying out. They are Christians who cannot wait. Their obsessive focus on timelines and world events that they read into the Bible should not dim the focus on Jesus and his work of grace on earth. We should think like him. How many more could we reach before He comes?
We have the Gospel. It is the ultimate solution for everything in this broken, sinful world.
The martyrs will be given a white robe of purity and victory. To wait a little while longer indicates a time delay to extend the time of repentance. There is always more grace in TIME. In the case of the persecuted church Smyrna, the persecution time was limited to 10 days, which also speaks of grace.
The example of Methuselah in the time before the Flood speaks of grace and extended time for repentance. (Genesis 5, Jude 14,15) Enoch hid the prophecy in his son’s name. Methuselah means to be sent plus death. He knew the judgment shall come when Methuselah dies. He is known for the man who lived the longest in all of history. Grace is extended to the maximum.
Their song – holy and true – suggests a desire for the manifestation of God’s holiness and the establishment of his Truth. Psalm 79:10:
Why should the Gentile nations say, Where is their God? Let vengeance for the blood of Your servants which is poured out be known among the nations in our sight [not delaying until some future generation].
The Psalm alludes to the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of God’s people under the Roman Empire – the fourth beast of Daniel.
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the [moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, he rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
The sixth seal speaks of cosmic upheaval, indescribable to the human mind and is regarded as the prelude to the final judgment and the final judgement itself all in one.
The seven structures of creation and the seven classes of men are affected. (Hebrews 12:27, Luke 23:27-30, Isaiah 2:2,17, Hosea 10:8)
The Day of the Lord as spoken by Obadiah in verse 15 of his prophetic utterance, is to be feared with a holy, joyous fear. It is a day of judgment and intervention. It determines the rise and fall of empires and civilizations.
The unsaved “pray” to nature to save them. Who is able to stand? There is clearly no escape. The revelation of God that they denied being true, is now proved and it is too much to bear.
The unbeliever does not fear death itself; he fears the revelation of God.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)
All the events of natural disaster are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.
- Earthquake – Amos 8:8, Ezekiel 38:19.
- Darkening of the sun and moon – Amos 8:9, Isaiah 50:3, Joel 2:31.
- Falling of the stars was a Jewish superstition for the worst that could happen. Matthew 24:29.
- Heavens rolled up – Isaiah 34:4.
- Moving of mountains and hills – Jeremiah 4:24, Nahum 1:5 – contrast Isaiah 55:12.
- Every terrifying thing imaginable is happening – picture of utter destruction.
Salvation is always available in the midst of it all.
A little while longer – not an indication of time, only limitation of time, in other words, not forever. To God’s mind time is of no concern. It is expressed in something we need to understand – but how? God’s moments are centuries or the blink of an eye.
A short time – Revelation 12:2; a thousand years (20:3) and 2 Peter 3:8-13:
Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish (pass away) with a thunderous crash, and the [[a]material] elements [of the universe] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
…and further.
The tension in the calculation of time is part of the already-and-not-yet interpretation of Revelation. For the disciples the “latter days” are the period from Christ’s resurrection to his return.
The sixth seal is the vindication (the truth of their beliefs is displayed) of the martyrs and a full judgment on the unbelievers and the persecutors. Even for them, God’s desire is salvation, but there comes a time when the “sins of the Amorites are full” – Genesis 15:16. God measures time according to the Plan and grace periods are often extended.
The sky will be like sackcloth – Isaiah 50:3:
I clothe the heavens with [the] blackness [of murky storm clouds], and I make sackcloth [of mourning] their covering.
In the sixth seal the whole sun and moon and stars are destroyed, whereas in 8:12 only a third is harmed and therefore is not the final judgement.
Fleeing to caves and rocks – Isaiah 2:20, 18-21 – judgment on Israel. Here they are judged for bearing the mark of the Beast – rich and poor alike. The mark indicates a full commitment to the agenda of the Beast.
Hiding in nature is the consequence of sin – just like in the Garden of Eden. The prayer goes out to nature – something bigger than self with a dynamic not controlled by men. Thinking that the cosmic forces, created by God, could replace God – the thought pattern of those who carry the mark of the beast. They need a miracle but will not seek it from the only One who is truly able.
The great day of the Lord is a very familiar phrase in the OT. Obadiah 15 has the explanation.
“For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;”
The word day occurs 11 times in Obadiah 8–14. Now it becomes the day of the LORD, a season of judgment and divine justice upon all the nations around Israel. The OT looked ever forward to this time.
The Day of the Lord is used by the OT prophets to signify a time in the history of mankind when God directly intervenes to bring salvation to His people and punishment to the rebellious. By it, God restores His righteous order in the Earth. As noted, the terms “that Day,” or simply “the Day,” are sometimes used as synonyms for the fuller expression “The Day of the Lord.”
The fulfillment of the Day must be seen, however, in four different stages:
1) In the times of the prophets, it was revealed by such events as the invasion of Israel by foreign powers (Amos), the awesome plagues of locusts (Joel), and the return of Israelite exiles from captivity (Ezra-Nehemiah).
2) In that prophetic insight has the quality of merging periods of eschatology so that even the prophets themselves could not always distinguish the various times of the fulfillment of their prophecies, that Day developed into a broad biblical concept “reaching as far as the culmination of all things.
Hence, the First Coming of Christ and the church age began another phase of the Day of the Lord. As participants in this aspect of the Day of the Lord, the church can call on the risen Christ to cast down spiritual forces that hinder God’s work in this present world and to bring about innumerable blessings. This is made clear by comparing Isaiah 61:1, 2 with Luke 4:18, 19, and Joel 2:25–32 with Acts 2:16–21.
3) The Second Coming of Christ will inaugurate the third aspect of the Day of the Lord, during which Christ’s personal, righteous, and universal rule will restore God’s order to the Earth (Isaiah 11:6–9; Amos 9:13).
4) The ultimate fulfillment of the Day of the Lord awaits the full arrival of the renewal of everything, the new heaven and new earth. Compare Ezekiel 47:1–12 with Revelation 22:1–5.
The earth is judged because of the idolatrous relationship of the unbeliever with nature. Nature is disrupted to show it is not stable and not to be trusted. Any security in nature is to be upended so that people are shocked into rethinking their sense of life and desires. False deities are often mentioned as heavenly bodies. (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:1-4; 2 Kings 23:4-5; Jeremiah 8:2; Ezekiel 8:16; Amos 5:25-27; Acts 7:41-43)
Six parts of earth are destroyed – earth, sun, moon, stars, heaven and every mountain and island. Nature gone – mankind is again naked before God. Earthly security is ripped away.
In everything Christ’s rule is the focus. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth and He judges them and He is also the loving redeemer of his people.
Here is the link to the Spotify Audio:
Pebbles of Perpetuity 