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The Seals Broken, Judgment - Revelation 6:1 - 17

Monday, December 7 –

We come to the beginning of the week, and a new section in the book of Revelation.  This morning’s reading is from Revelation 6:1 – 17.  Read the scripture first please, and then come back and we’ll try to make some relevant points for interpretation.


The book of Revelation has given us two pictures of Jesus as ascended Lord – chapter 1 and chapter 5.  In between Jesus gave John revelation to seven churches, and after that, a vision of heaven’s majesties.  In chapter four we saw the throne room of God, with twenty-four elders, and four creatures, all worshiping the Lord God.  Then in chapter five, the worship continued with the revelation of Jesus as the lamb of God who was given a seven-sealed scroll – which I believe is the deed of all creation.  Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and “open its seals” (5:9), because of his death and his blood that paid the penalty for sin to God for all people.  The response of heaven, the twenty-four elders, the creatures, and myriads and myriads, and thousands of thousands (angels) is worship – “Worthy is the lamb”.  The words of adoration and praise echo the same words that were spoken of Him who sits on the throne in chapter four – thus God and Jesus are one in essence.

Beginning in chapter 6 thru chapter 19, the book focuses on the Judgments of God that eventually will destroy sin and Satan, and all his followers.  It also focuses our attention on God’s protection of his people during tribulation.  We need to remember this as we read through these amazing dramatic pictures that John writes to us.  The book of Revelation was written to encourage Christians in every generation to “stand fast” – “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17). The question is answered in unfolding pictures that involve a number of seven things:  Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls.  The three sets unfold in chapters 6 – 8, and forecast present and future judgments.  Every time we come to the seventh of these things, a new set of seven things begin to unfold.  We have to ask, “what is John seeing?”

To be honest, there are many different interpretations of this section.  There are those who teach that all of this was symbolic of what was happening in John’s own time as he witnesses the persecutions brought on by the Emperor Domitian.  I am inclined to agree somewhat with this.  Yet, that is not all it is.  The nature of prophecy is the “now” and “not yet”, so it’s safe to say that there is a beginning time and there will be an ending time, but the prophecies of that ending are “not yet”.  John had been told to write down what he sees – “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this” (1:19).  The things that are “after this” pertain to end times, clearly something that has not happened yet.  When Jesus was asked by his disciples about the end, they asked – “…Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Jesus answered with what would be “now” realities – the eventual fall of Jerusalem in 70 a.d. Then Jesus foretells another time when “the end will come” – “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31).

All of this is background to the unfolding drama of what is going to happen in the next 13 chapters.  The “tribulation” that occurs will be a foretelling of John’s present experience and project what will occur throughout church history, all the way to the very end times when Christ will return.  The first seal is broken by the Lord and one of the creatures says “come”, and John sees a white horse and a rider with a bow, and a crown (the victor’s crown, not a regal crown), and he comes out to conquer (6:1-2).  Then follows the opening of the second seal, and one of the creatures says “come”, and a rider on a red horse appears who takes peace from the earth (6:3).  Then the third seal is broken and a third creature says “come” and a rider on a black horse appears which signifies famine, exorbitant prices for so little food (6:5-6).  Finally, the fourth seal is broken and the fourth creature says “come”, and a rider whose name is “death and hades” appears on a pale (ashen) horse that will bring death to a quarter of the earth.  The four horses (of the Apocalypse) vision reflects back on the Old Testament prophecy of Zechariah 1:7-17.  What is loosed upon the earth in the broken seals is a conqueror who conquers, followed by war, famine, and death on a massive scale.          

It is not a pleasant read and startles our souls to see this level of judgment fall upon the earth.  Jesus had foretold that nations would rise against nations, disasters would occur, famines, but these were just the birth pangs, not the end (Mark 13:7-8).  We must notice that while it is Jesus who opens the seals, the evil that is unleashed is done by those who are evil, not Christ.  We see evil in the world daily, and it is not the Lord who is behind the evil, but the Lord who is over the evil – a sovereign God knows what he is doing.

When the fifth seal is opened John sees heavenly martyrs “under the altar” (6:9-11).  The altar is a reference to the Old Testament offerings on the altar near the Temple.  Those who were slain as martyrs were like those offerings.   This reminds us of two realities.  First that even the Christian is not immune from suffering by evil.  History tells many stories of Christians martyred by those who hated their faith.  While we might think that most of the church’s martyrs were from the early centuries, in fact, there have been more martyrdoms that have taken place since the beginning of the 20th century than all the previous nineteen centuries before it.  Secondly, the faith of the martyrs has not gone unnoticed in heaven, and the prominence of their faithfulness is something God treasured –

 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” (6:9-11)

When they cry out to the Lord, “how long before you judge?”, we find out that it will get worse before it gets better.  The white robes are the sign of their victory in Christ, and the purity they now enjoy as they receive the righteousness of Christ in heaven.  Why were they martyred?  Because of their faith in “the word of God and the faithfulness of their witness” (Phillips, 6:9).

Jesus breaks the sixth seal, and “all hell breaks loose”.  It is a forecast of what is soon coming at the end of all things.  John sees what the prophet Joel had seen when he wrote Joel 2:1, 10 – “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near... The heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness”.  The earth will be in a panic, much like we witnessed watching those who fled in New York City from the twin towers as they collapsed.  It does not make any difference – at that point – how much money you have in an IRA, or how successful you were at your job, or how great your life has been, for all who do not know the Lord will feel the wrath of God.  John is writing a future that can be avoided if instead of fleeing from God or hiding from Christ, we see the promise of grace in Christ’s salvation.  The prophet Joel had written of this – “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning”, rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:12-13). 

None of us rejoice in suffering, and we should not.  Yet the earth cries out for judgment so many thousands of times over.  The evil that seemingly never ends will someday be confronted and destroyed.  Those who “flee from the Lord trying to hide from the face of Him who sits on the throne” (6:16), will not be able to hide.

There is more to come.  John sees from the vantage point of the throne of God – where God is in control, and not the world.  It’s important to remember that when evil rears its ugly head.  Jesus knew what John would one day see, and told him, and the other disciples in advance in Matthew 24:

Matthew 24                                                       Revelation 6

  • False Christs (vss 4-5)                     White horse – a rider conquering (vss 1-2)
  • Wars (vs 6)                                       Red horse – war (vss 3-4)
  • Famines (vs 7)                                  Black horse – famine (vss 5-6)
  • Death (vss 7b-8)                               Pale horse – death (vss 7-8)
  • Martyrs (vs 9)                                    Martyrs crying out – (vss 9 – 11)

·         Worldwide Chaos                                      Worldwide Chaos – (vss. 12 – 16)

At the end of this beginning of tribulations, John sees it all, and asks an important question – “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17).  The question will be answered in chapter seven.  It is not primarily who can make it through this kind of suffering, but who can stand in the face of the wrath of God?  The Gospel reminds us that faith in Jesus Christ delivers us from the wrath that is to come, and that is who can stand?

Peace 

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