Revelation Study

Revelation Study — Chapter 6

(Future kingdom advocates say that the fifth chapter is an introduction concerning who would be worthy to loosen the seals and it would be Jesus when he comes, in the future, for his millennial reign and that begins in this chapter. Some of these futurists get the rapture in it some way or another.)

KJV Revelation 6:1 "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see."

NASB Revelation 6:1 "Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."

The worthiness of the lamb to open the book and the seals has been acknowledged by the entire universe in chapter five and now he opens the first of the seals. The opening comes with the noise of thunder indicating an awesome thing happening. Notice that the NAS says, "broke one of the seals." This would make a little more plain the statement of "open the book and open the seals." The idea would be "open the book and break the seals." That version leaves off the "and see" of the last phrase, "come and see." The words "and see" are not in the original language. So, the word "come" is not speaking to John but to the vision of the horseman. It was time for him to make his appearance.

Since as there are many explanations of the Revelation and each one takes a different route in reaching their conclusions, even so must the opening of the seven seals harmonize with that particular route. Our route follows the course that brings us to the destruction of Judaism by the Roman Empire so we must harmonize the opening of the seals with that. And each of these horses depict the situation under varying circumstances during the same period of time.

Vs 6:2 "And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."

Some would make him who sat on the horse to be Jesus but I disagree. I don't believe the person on the horse has to be named. In fact, it seems to me that, if this rider has a specific name, then, to be consistent, all the riders would have a specific name, but no commentator that I have read, names the other horses. The color white indicates glory, honor, justification. I believe this is a signification of the beginning and the rise of the great Roman Empire. This was done, not just by Julius Caesar, the first Caesar, but each successive Caesar or Emperor added to the conquest of the known world until it began its greatest decline in the time of the Emperor Trajan about the second century A.D. The white horse with its rider indicates great glory and that could be secular glory as well as spiritual glory. The rider is not just one person but the empire which has come forth with glory and a crown, honor, and he will win the battles that establishes Rome as a world leader. "He went forth conquering and to conquer." This is a continuing situation.

The Caesarian line started with Julius, then Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula (or Gaius), Claudias and ended with Nero (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus). Galba ruled for about four months. Vitellius and Otho also ruled a little while in 69 A.D. and are not really considered in the lineage of Roman Emperors. After that the Flavian line started with Vespasian, then his sons, Titus and Domitian. There were four emperors in 69 A.D.

Vs 3 "And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see."

Of the white horse it was said, generically, "He went forth conquering and to conquer." Certainly there was war but the details are not given. Now we leave off the "and see" thus the reading is simply, "come" and the red horse comes into view and what a view!

Vs 4 "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword."

Matthew 24:6-7 "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."

Matthew 24:9-10 "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."

This horse indicates bloody warfare. In the building and maintenance of the Roman Empire there was continual warfare; with the nations round about and within with the Jews. He had a "great sword" which indicates that its usage was to kill, shed blood. The disciples of Christ both before and after the cross were equated with Judaism. Roman persecution before the destruction of Jerusalem was against the Jews. Many were killed and persecuted. There was little peace in the Roman Empire until after 70 A.D. The wars with the Jews ceased and by then, most of the territory that the Romans coveted had been obtained. Later on, of course, there was terrible warfare between the Romans and the Goths, Visigoths, Huns, etc.

Vs 5 "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the
wine."

Matthew 24:7-8 "... and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows."

This verse with its black horse more or less gives its own explanation. There would be scarcities of commodities. They would be so scarce that they would be weighed out carefully. It is commonly agreed that a day's wage amounted to about a penny. (Matthew 20:2) "And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard." So, it took
a day's wages to buy a measure (less than a quart) of wheat. Barley was cheaper but it was less nourishing. There is considerable disagreement among the commentators in regard to what "hurt not the oil and the wine (or vine)" may mean. But it looks to me
like in contrast to the shortage of the common food of the land, the products that also meant so much to them in food preparation
and in various sacrifices would not suffer like the other. Oil came primarily from the olive and wine from the vineyards. These
would, in some way, be spared.

Vs 7 "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see."

Once again, leave out the "and see." He said "come" and the pale horse appeared.

Vs 8 "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

The word "pale" as used here is translated from a Greek word that indicates a kind of green. It is not like the green of Psalm 23: "lie down in green pastures," but is more of a bile color or sickly green. We sometimes refer to such a color of "biliousgreen." This horse's rider was named "death." Hell or, properly, hades, followed. The word "followed" means that it went alongside, not went behind. Hades accompanied Death. Hades is the unseen abode of departed spirits. The words "earth" and "world" are sometimes used to indicate a certain portion of the globe and here, because of the context in which we are studying, it would be limited to the Roman Empire. There were now Jews everywhere in the empire. Go back and read Acts 2. But just imagine, 25% of the people would die. Some with the sword, some because of famine, some of pestilence, some of wild beasts. This is a summation of the first three riders and their means of death.

Vs 9 "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:"

These are likely the martyred greats of the Old Testament era, especially the "great cloud of witnesses" we read of in Hebrews 11. "Under the altar" might indicate a lack of recognition or reconciliation. But, more likely, an indication that they were "under," not physically, but figuratively, covered by the old covenant.

Vs 10 "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"

They had been waiting for vindication a long while. How much longer?

Vs 11 "And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."

The sacrificial offering of Christ on the cross gave them hope and they now had what they couldn't have under the first covenant, complete forgiveness of their sins indicated by the white robes. Vengeance would come later after others had been martyred. (Read and study sometime, 1 Corinthians 15:29-30, with these saints and others anticipated, in mind.)

Vs 12 "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;" Vs 13 "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind."

All of these symbols used in this verse and in the verses until the end of the chapter is indicative of people and nations. Jesus spoke of earthquakes in his great eschatological discourse (Mark 13:8). In Matthew 24:29 similar symbols are used to indicate the coming of the destruction of 70 A.D. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"

This is not the final judgment day as some would have us believe but the turmoil before the cataclysm of 70 A.D. Remember the statement of Matthew 24:21-22: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

Vss 14-17 "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

All of these signs and symbols were indicative of the great upheavals of the Roman Empire especially as it pertained to Judaism and Christianity, in fact, there is some resemblance between the increase of the kingdom of Israel and its total destruction and the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Perhaps the fall of the Roman Empire is pictured here also. This might be what Daniel calls the "abomination of desolation" and is referred to in Matthew 24.