We now come to the part of Revelation where people often get scared. The reason they get scared is because there is very vivid and strange imagery, and they don’t know how to interpret it. Rest assured, though, it is much more understandable than you might think, so let’s jump right into Revelation 6, and the opening of the first six seals.
Remember, in chapters 4-5, the scene took place in Heaven, where John saw a vision of God’s throne room. The dilemma was that no one was worthy to open the scroll with the seven seals. And remember, the scroll is essentially the revelation of God to the seven churches as to what is going on: Why are they being persecuted and killed? Why is Rome allowed to run rampant over the earth? What is God doing?
No one is worthy to break the seven seals and open the scroll until the Lion of Judah appears—but lo and behold, the lion is a slaughtered Lamb. It is Christ, who reigns over creation because He allowed Himself to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Now here in chapter 6 the next scene unfolds. As the Lamb breaks each seal, the scene shifts to earth: what Christ opens in Heaven is seen unfolding on earth.
The First Four Seals
The first four seals need to be seen as a group—they are the “four horsemen” of the apocalypse. But they aren’t predictors of things that will happen in the future; they are revelations of what was happening at that time in the world. Each horse that comes out with the first four seals has a certain color and a certain description. A chart will help here:
| Horse | Description |
| White Horse | The rider has a bow and a crown; goes out to conquer |
| Red Horse | The rider is given a great sword; takes peace away; gets people to slaughter each other |
| Black Horse | The rider has balances in his hand; the voice describes high prices and a lack of food |
| Pale Horse | The rider is Death, with Hades behind him; he kills ¼ of the earth through sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts |
Now, some people think that the rider on the white horse is Christ, but there are two problems with this view: (1) How could Christ be the Lamb opening the scrolls, and at the same time be the rider on the white horse? And (2) if Christ is the rider on the white horse, then it is hard to see what connection it has to the other three horses.
Besides, one of the things you will see throughout Revelation is how there are always two contrasting figures (i.e. Babylon vs. the Heavenly Jerusalem; the whore of Babylon vs. the Bride). At the end of Revelation we see Christ riding a white horse, and so we need to see this rider in Revelation 6, not as Christ, but as the contrasting figure. So who is the rider on the white horse? We need to interpret the white horse in relation to the other three. Here’s how it works…
Taken as a group, we can see that the four horsemen symbolize the self-destructive and war-like nature of this fallen world. As the Terminator in Terminator 2 says about the human race, “It is in your nature to destroy each other.” The four horsemen show that very nature, and what it looked like in ancient Rome.
Therefore, the white horse symbolizes the imperialistic and conquering nature of empires. And, given the time, the early Christians would have understood the white horse to be Rome.
The red horse thus is the logical consequence of the white horse. It is war, the result of what happens when empires like Rome are bent on conquest.
The black horse symbolizes the result of war, namely economic ruin and poverty to the country that is conquered.
Finally, the pale horse is the ultimate consequence of all this: death and the grave.
So what do these first four seals reveal? The state of the human race in general, and the destructive forces of Rome in particular.
The Fifth and Sixth Seals
The fifth seal then gives us a sobering and shocking picture: the murdered saints who have been martyred because of their witness to the Word of God. And where are they? They are under the altar of souls. What is this? Well, we must first realize that in the Temple in Jerusalem, the altar was the place where the priests made atoning sacrifices to YHWH on behalf of Israel. In the Old Testament, these sacrifices foreshadowed the atoning sacrifice that Jesus (i.e. the Lamb) made for the whole world.
Now, “atonement” basically means to make peace with God. We have always been told that through Christ’s death we have been reconciled to God. But this picture with the fifth seal shows us something that we don’t often realize. In the Heavenly Temple, who is the sacrifice? The saints—the Christians. And if this isn’t shocking enough, when the souls under the altar ask, “How long, O Lord, until you avenge our blood?” God’s response is this: they are given white robes (which symbolize being cleanse of their sins), and they are told that they have to wait until the complete number of their fellow servants are killed. In other words, the Lord is saying, “Wait, I’m going to let more of you be killed.”
So what is going on here? It’s pretty simple. The fifth seal gives a vivid and shocking picture of what it means to follow Christ. It’s hard for us in the USA to swallow, but for millions of Christians throughout history, this is to be expected—just as the Christians who have been beheaded by ISIS.
Yes, Christ died for the sins of the world, and yes, His death was the atoning sacrifice that made peace with God possible. But how are we, as Christians, to share God’s grace and salvation? Through our own sacrifice and persecution. How do we show the world what God’s grace is all about? We imitate Christ and accept unjust suffering, persecution, and possibly death without resistance. We let our lives be a sacrifice that brings God’s grace into this world.
All throughout the New Testament, this is the way Christians are encouraged to live: live a crucified life, and accept unjust suffering, just like Christ did, for it is through this that God’s grace and Christ’s love are shared. Just read I Peter 2:11-25. This puts an intense challenge to use as Christians. We can’t just say, “Christ suffered and died for you, will you accept God’s grace?” We also, if the situation arises, must also live Christ’s sacrifice out in our own lives. We can’t just talk about the crucifixion—we must accept it in our own lives. After all, why are so many people who have grown up in church so turned off to Christianity? Isn’t it because they’ve heard the teaching all their lives, but have never really seen God’s grace and love lived out among those who claim to be followers of Christ?
The message of the fifth seal is hard: be prepared to imitate Christ unto death. Salvation only comes through suffering.
The sixth seal is fairly easy to understand if you are familiar with Old Testament imagery. It gives us a picture of the coming day of the wrath of YHWH (i.e. the Lord) upon the evildoers of the world. Images of “a great shaking of the land,” “the sun turning black, the moon turning to blood,” etc., are all images that the Old Testament prophets used to talk about when God would finally come and redeem His people, avenge their suffering, and judge the evil people of the world. And let’s be clear: this imagery is not literal; it is metaphorical. In addition, it has echoes of what was experienced at God’s throne in chapter 4, and that also means it echoes the experience Israel had with God on Mount Sinai. Like I said in my post regarding Revelation 4-5, whenever you encounter imagery like this in Revelation, think “God is acting from His throne!”
And since the sixth seal announces that God will soon act, we need to realize that this is precisely what the martyrs under the altar of souls of the fifth seal have asked for: God is getting ready to answer their prayers. And note, God’s people are no longer just Old Testament Israel. They are now seen as people from all nations: Jews and Gentiles. All who put their faith in Christ—these are God’s chosen people; these are the True Israel.
Finally, 6:17 is quite an interesting verse. As the kings of the earth see the Day of the Wrath of YHWH coming, they ask, “Who can stand?” To them, it is obvious that none of them can stand against YHWH. The answer to that question, though, comes in the very next verse that begins chapter 7…
Those who are standing are God’s servants, the 144,000, the great multitude.
And that is a topic for the next post.
