The First Four Seals

Before we start with Revelation 6 I will give you a brief summary of the upcoming chapters. Then you will have a rough idea of what is going to happen.

1. In Revelation 6 the first six seals are broken. Those six seals describe the first six trials that will come over the earth after the rapture of the church.

2. Revelation 7 is a parenthesis between the sixth and the seventh seal, in which God shows that a great number of believers are preserved through the judgments until the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth. They enter the kingdom of peace as the living.

3. In Revelation 8:1-5 the seventh seal is opened. That causes a silence of half an hour in heaven, after which seven trumpets, blown by angels, give the sign for new judgments.

4. In Revelation 8:6-9:21 six trumpet judgments are described.

5. The section of Revelation 10:1-11:13 forms a new parenthesis.

6. Then in Revelation 11:14-18 the seventh trumpet is blown.

7. In Revelation 12-14 some events of the forgoing period are more precisely described.

8. In Revelation 15-16 you read about the seven angels with seven bowl judgments. These are the concluding and also most severe judgments.

9. The Revelation 17-18 are specially dedicated to the judgment over the great Babylon, the false church.

10. Then in Revelation 19 the wedding of the Lamb with the true church takes place.

11. Up till Revelation 21:8 it is described in chronological order what still more is to happen until eternity begins.

12. From Revelation 21:9 you have a description of the new Jerusalem in the kingdom of peace.

13. The book ends with information on the coming of Christ and His promise that He will come soon.

Rev 6:1. Here you see, with John, the Lord Jesus as the Lamb, opening the first seal. As it is said, it is one of the seals of the book in which God has written His counsels and judgments regarding the earth. You can call the judgments that come on the earth with the opening of each of the seals, the preliminary judgments. They are not yet the actual, ultimate judgments with the effect of the purification of the earth and the redemption of it, but they prepare the way to it. The seal judgments announce the beginning of the end, that is, that God will fulfill His will by preparing the earth for the reign of Christ.

The command “come” is not addressed to John and still less to Christ. It comes from one of the living creatures that are connected to the execution of judgment and is addressed to the horse as a symbol of the judgment. Here it is still about judgments in providence. That means that those are judgments which by unbelievers are ascribed to natural elements or to political or other circumstances, while in reality they are directed by God. They still do not recognize God’s hand in these plagues.

Rev 6:2. Here horses represent authorities that God in His providence uses for judgment (cf. Zec 1:8-10; Rev 19:11; 14). The colors of the horses associated with the first four seals represent successively: white for victory, fiery red for blood, black for mourning and ashen as the corpse color of death (cf. Zec 1:8; Zec 6:2-8).

The white horse with its rider who goes out conquering is not a representation of the coming of Christ. Christ will come down from heaven only in Revelation 19. It has been suggested that this is a prince who works and maintains the cohesion of the Roman empire. I remind you that we have here the first events on earth that will take place right after the rapture of the church.

When the church has been caught up it will for a moment seem that all human efforts have been successful in order to achieve a sustainable peace. It is a short period of apparent peace and prosperity with a sense of security. God will allow it, while man in his arrogance will see it as his own success (1Thes 5:3). About peace with God and about what He considers righteous, he does not think about that.

The “bow”, without an arrow, may probably indicate that there is no arms race at that very moment, but that the disarmament regarding the mass destruction which could be effected at a great distance, has been realized for a great deal. It is also possible that there is such an amount of long distance weapons that the threat is enough to win people over without direct bloodshed. That this process will probably be taking place peacefully can be derived from the white color.

“A crown was given” to the conqueror. That indicates that he conquers under the approval of God because it fits into His plans. It does not mean that God approves of all his acts and motives, but that He allows the performance.

Rev 6:3-4. When “the second seal” is opened by the Lamb, John hears the second living creature saying: “Come!” Because in Rev 6:1 it is not said ‘the first living creature’, but “one of the four living creatures”, the order of speaking of the living creatures cannot be determined on the basis of Revelation 4 (Rev 4:7). The horse that goes out has a red color. Shortly after the rider of the white horse had established a peaceful period, the rider of the red horse brutally makes an end to it.

After a period of peace during the first seal, a spirit of discontentment is now working which instigates war, possibly a civil war. Here you do not see a bow, like with the first seal, but “a great sword” for the fight of man against man. It is a ‘great sword’, which indicates that the slaughter is great. Here it becomes apparent that the disarmament is not complete. People remain deceitful. Peace wrought by men does not last. Only God can give lasting peace (Psa 147:14). Peace is a result of the subjection of man to the government of God.

Rev 6:5. When the Lamb opens “the third seal” the “the third living creature” says: “Come!” John sees “a black horse” and ”he who sits on it”. He also sees that the rider has “a pair of scales in his hand”. We don’t need to guess what the black color represents. Black doesn’t evoke pleasant thoughts, but has to do with mourning and lamenting (Psa 38:7; Psa 42:10; Psa 43:2; Jer 8:21; Lam 4:8; Mal 3:14). The pair of scales indicates an accurate measurement of what is available. The general prosperity is over and done with.

Rev 6:6. You can imagine that because of the war under the second seal, an economic chaos arises. The most necessary provisions will be enormously scarce and therefore expensive. This situation is emphatically associated with a judgment that comes from God. It says for a reason that something “like a voice in the center of the four living creatures” announces this scarcity.

Especially the common population will suffer under this crisis. “A quart of wheat” will cost “a denarius”, which is equal to a day’s pay (Mt 20:2). Common man can only have one meal a day. The word ‘quart’ doesn’t evoke the thought that there is much choice. It is scarce, just enough to stay alive. All the money that has been earned will be used for that. There is no more money to spend on anything else.

“The oil and the wine” must be spared. These products are presented as affluent goods, for which we are warned not to put our heart on them (Pro 21:17). If these things must be spared it may indicate that the rich people are still prospering. They can always maintain themselves for a longer period of time. But they will surely have to face the shortage. Maybe not in material sense, but surely in spiritual sense (Rev 6:15). It is also possible when considering oil and wine to think of medicines (Lk 10:34). Then we see in the sparing of oil and wine God’s compassion, which despite the severe trials which come over the earth, will not be completely taken away.

Rev 6:7-8. When the Lamb breaks “the fourth seal” John hears “the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.”” Now all four living creatures have spoken. The horse you see now is “ashen”. The rider of this horse has a name called “Death” and his follower is called “Hades”. Here you can find no trace of compassion. It is all darkness. That cannot be otherwise, for wherever God is denied as the source of life, death enters.

The territory where this judgment takes place is “a fourth of the earth”. That is a smaller part than ‘a third’, which embraces the Roman empire (Rev 12:4). The judgment is therefore still of a relatively small size.

The famine under the previous seal will be followed by death which makes its victims in various ways. Hades follows death because hades is the place where the victims of death end up. Death deals with the living and hades with the dead. Together they make victims with “sword” (wars), “famine” (hunger), “pestilence” and “the wild beasts of the earth” (Jer 14:12; Jer 15:2; Eze 5:12; 17; Eze 14:21; Eze 33:27). Wild beasts probably represent unscrupulous people who terrorize their fellow men.

Now read Revelation 6:1-8 again.

Reflection: Try to summarize in few words the characteristic of each of the first four seals.

The Fifth and Sixth Seal

Rev 6:9. When the Lamb opens “the fifth seal” the consequence is different from the previous seals. There several horses with riders appeared and did certain things. After the establishment of a false peace, several actions followed that result in death and misery. With this fifth seal you see nothing happen, but you get a behind-the-scenes look of death. You see and hear individuals who cry for revenge.

This seal is not a direct judgment, but it is actually the preparation for the judgments that will follow hereafter under the remaining seals. Those are not the same kind of judgments as those of the previous seals. There things happened on earth that are a plague for men. They are things that seem to stem from their own wrong actions, although God directs them. The judgments yet to come are judgments in which men are forced to recognize more directly the hand of God.

Those who cry for revenge are “underneath the altar”. The altar is a place of offering. That appears from the description that follows. “The souls” are “of those who had been slain”. They were slain by the enemies of God. They are ‘underneath the altar’ because they offered their lives as an offering for the sake of “the word of God”, like the blood of a sacrificial animal – in the blood is the soul – was poured out at the foot of the altar (Exo 29:12; Lev 4:7; 18; 30; 34). God considers their death as an offering pleasing to Him.

Here you read about ‘souls’, because these believers have not yet been raised. Their bodies are still in the grave. At the same time this makes clear that they do not belong to the church, for the bodies of those who belong to the church, will be raised at the coming of the Lord Jesus. The believers that we are talking about here, died during the time when the seals are opened, when the gospel was also proclaimed, that is, the gospel of the kingdom (Mt 24:14). They will remain in that condition till the return of Christ (Rev 20:4).

They did not die a natural death or because of an illness. No, they were killed “because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained”. They remained faithful to the truth of God’s Word and also testified to it. They had to pay with their lives for it and they were willing to pay that price. That’s why they were “slain”, which is the same word that is used for the Lord Jesus as “a Lamb standing, as if slain” (Rev 5:6). What men did to the Lord Jesus, they also do to those who are faithful to Him (Jn 15:18-20). These souls are the first martyrs. Many of their brothers will follow in even more terrible times (Rev 12:17; Rev 13:7).

Rev 6:10. The words they cry out are words of revenge. That also makes clear that we do not find ourselves on Christian ground. It is the language of the Old Testament (cf. Psa 79:10-13; Psa 137:7-9). The believers of the church do not pray for revenge on their persecutors, but for grace (Acts 7:60). After the rapture of the church this will be a prayer that is fitting to be prayed. What matters then is that God will assert His right on earth, and that can only be done through judgment. When the believers then will be persecuted they will not be delivered by taking them out of the persecution, as with the church, but by judging the enemies. Those enemies are the people “who dwell on the earth”. They do not want to have anything to do with God and do not want to be confronted with Him.

The souls underneath the altar cry out to God as “Lord, holy and true”. They long for justice for the injustice that was done to them. Thereby they appeal to God, Who understands this. After all He is holy and hates unholiness. He is also true and hates injustice. They have no doubt that He will act against evil and will thereby show His absolute sovereignty as Ruler. They only wonder how long they have to wait for that (Psa 94:3; Hab 1:2). At the same time this question indicates that they know that the persecution of the faithful will come to an end.

Rev 6:11. As an answer to their call the martyrs receive “a white robe”. It is about a symbolic robe, for souls cannot be clothed. In the same sentence it is said of God Who is Spirit, that He is clothed (Psa 104:2; Isa 6:1). In that way they receive, as it were, a high award for being righteous and overcomers. It underscores their dignity.

It is also said to them that they will have to rest a little while longer. It is about “a little while”, which is the time of the great tribulation. The group that is talking here is the first group of martyrs after the rapture of the church. There will be more martyrs joining them, namely, those who will be killed during the great tribulation (Rev 20:4b). Those are “their fellow servants”, for they serve the same Lord, and “their brethren”, for they belong to the same family of those who did the will of God (Mt 12:49-50). When they are killed the number of the martyrs will be complete and then the Lord will come to meet their request for revenge.

Rev 6:12. After this brief conversation, the Lamb opens “the sixth seal”. What then happens is, as it were, an ‘advance’ of the answer to the prayer under the previous seal. An enormous earthquake will occur which turns the earth into a chaos. This demonstration of power makes of man a completely insignificant, void creature. Above the earth it becomes black and red. All of creation turns into a terrifying backdrop. It is possible that what is described here will literally happen. It is also possible, which seems to me to be the first meaning, that it is a symbolic representation.

Symbolically the “great earthquake” represents an enormous revolution through which everything that has given man firmness and support falls away from him. It concerns social, political and religious order, things that give support in life. Normally the ground under the feet is the most secure thing in life. Sun, moon and stars can be seen as symbols for rulers (cf. Gen 1:16). When these celestial objects lose their shine and become black and red, it means that these rulers, given by God to protect order and life, are now causing darkness and death.

Rev 6:13. These stars seem surely to be a symbolic presentation of rulers. If it would be literally true that the stars fall on the earth, then nothing will be left of the earth. That they “fell to the earth”, means that they lose their original function. What they were meant for, as an orientation for man, has disappeared. They now show their true nature. They used to be kept somewhat in check by certain Christian values and norms. Their own righteousness comes under the control of powers which they are not able to resist. Evil power will take over the control.

Rev 6:14. God, as it were, takes His hands off His creation. The thoughts of heaven, that is of God, are obscured, without possibility of being informed about them anymore. After all, you cannot read a ‘scroll that is rolled up’. There is no more light from above, only moral darkness, making one blind to any Divine guidance. The result is that “every mountain and island were moved out of their places”. In connection with the previous verses it seems that this also has to be considered symbolically. Mountains represent immense, immoveable powers and islands are images of commercial powers. They also lose their usual functions and become disoriented.

Rev 6:15. You may take the description in this verse literally. In the sevenfold description you can see all of humanity, from king to slave. They are all so astonished and helpless by the elimination of any human government, that they want to hide themselves. Every difference in prosperity, wealth, riches and social positions disappears. None of the economic, social or political benefits gives any protection against these judgments. They will all hide themselves “in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains” (cf. Isa 2:19).

Rev 6:16. While they are there, they will still not feel safe from “the wrath of the Lamb”. They have come to realize through the disasters under the previous seal that they are dealing with God and the Lamb. They begin to think of God and even the Lamb (Pro 10:24a). It is the proof that also the unbelieving man is inwardly aware that he is dealing with God as Judge. He also knows of the Lamb and His wrath. This indicates that we are in what has been a Christian part of the world.

But how fearful they may be, they refuse to repent! They do not want to accept what they always have denied and what they are now forced to acknowledge. They do not want to bow down before the Lamb. They prefer that the mountains and rocks fall on them. They probably think that if only they die, they will be able to escape from God and the wrath of the Lamb. That also will appear to be a tragic and fatal mistake when they will be called to come before the great white throne (Rev 20:12-13).

Rev 6:17. People who refuse to repent are always mistaken. These people claim that “the great day” of the wrath of God and of the Lamb has come. But that is not true. It is yet the beginning of birth pangs (Mt 24:8). That great day will have come only when Christ appears.

Now read Revelation 6:9-17 again.

Reflection: Mention some differences between what the souls underneath the altar ask of God and what you as a Christian ask of God.