Questions to ask in Revelation Six:
The First Seal—Rider on White Horse
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.” 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
The Second Seal—War
3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” 4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
The Third Seal—Famine
5 When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Comic.” 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 something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
The Fourth Seal—Death
7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” 8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The Fifth Seal—Martyrs
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
The Sixth Seal—Terror
12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about Jesus? – He will break the seals to take ownership of creation. This has been built into his role as redeemer.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the church? Though the church is in heaven, there remains saints on the earth that will be martyred. There appears to be a number that God has set that will be martyred for their faith, that much be complete before action is taken to judge their persecutors.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the world? Although they see God as the Judge, they still refuse to call out to Him for help, they call to nature to remove them from His judgment but nature doesn’t answer.
- What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the Evil One? He will have a hand in deception, death, and delusion. He will use these things to entrench himself in the lives of the world population.
- Can you see Christ’s Mercy towards humanity in the passage? He is making Himself known to the population of the world, although they refuse to acknowledge Him.
- Can you see Christ’s judgment of disobedience? There doesn’t appear to be judgment yet, more about waking people up to who owns all things. Judgment is coming, but this is more about total disruption.
Thoughts:
Prior to the breaking of the seals – this is all necessary in order to access the official title deed that the Son of Man was given. Aligning with Matt 24.
- The Four Horsemen
- White Horse- had a bow, no arrows, objective to conquer. (Appears to be measure of peace but it is deceptive, false. (Matt 24:5) – The absence of the church opens the door to deception. Deception works because it has some truth in it.
- Red Horse – removes peace from the earth – (Matt 24:6). Again, without the influence of the church, there will be an even greater hatred for Israel. People say there is always a war on earth somewhere, now imagine it everywhere. This is global. Note also this rider is “permitted”. Someone holds the permission and this will only go so far.
- Black Horse – famine. (Matt 24:7a) The rider has a pair of scales, which symbolizes the cost of things. This is about famine that is unknown to the world. Following the outbreak of universal war and rioting, it is no surprise that Earth is plunged into worldwide famine.
- A denarius for a quart of wheat – one day’s wages for one day’s food.
- Oil and wine not harmed? Rich not impacted?
- Pale Horse – his name is given – Death. (Matt 24:7b) Is death the worst? No, he’s followed by who? Death is not the end. Death may take the body, but Hades takes the soul To kill a fourth of the earth. 7.6 billion = 1.85 billion people die if this happens today.
- The Fifth Seal – Martyrs that died during the tribulation, since the rapture.
- They remember their earthly suffering
- Their persecutors are still living
- The have bodies (how else would you wear a robe?)
- They were killed for what reason? (Because of the word of God and their testimony)
- What are they asking for? (See Psalm 79:10, Ps 94:1-5, 23b, 2 Thess 1:6-9)n All persecution against believers is driven by hatred of God.
- God informs them that they should rest, the persecution is not over yet.
- Points about heaven
- We will ask questions in heaven. (How long?)
- We will remember what happened on earth. But heaven’s joy is not dependent upon an erased [memory], but a renewed mind. Heaven does not require some form of eternal amnesia. By the way, this makes hell all the more horrible. Those in hell will live with their memories.
- We will not get immediate answers – God told them to wait.
- There is time in heaven. The clock continues to click. Mention of months and years is throughout heaven. In heaven, time will never work against us. We will never, ever run out of it.
- The Sixth Seal – the disruption of nature.
- Earthquake – “mega seismos”
- Sun was black
- Moon was blood red.
- Stars fell to the earth –
- Sky is split apart
- Mountains and Islands moved out of their places
- All men brought low
- Kings of the earth
- Great men and commanders – high ranking people
- Rich and the strong
- Every slave and free man – no one escapes
- To whom do these people call out to when nature turns on them? They call out to the mountains and the rocks to save them from the One on High. They think that death will provide an escape for them. It will not. They would rather die than trust in Him.
- After the dust settles, and the earth settles back down and the fires are put out, the antichrist will move in Jerusalem to desecrate the altar of the newly constructed temple, and claim to be God. Perhaps he will claim to have done something to stop these disturbances from continuing