The First Six Seals are Broken Rev 6:1-17
The Four Horsemen.
We continue the story of Chapter Five where we are still in the Throne Room of God. Now the excitement builds as the Lamb (Jesus Christ) begins to break the seven seals that bound the book handed to Him by God. As each of these seals is broken a vision is presented to us. Each of these visions forms part of the story so first we will deal with them one by one then we’ll look at them against the greater context of the book. This may be confusing at first but once we get to our overview and step back to see the greater picture, things will become much clearer.
For the purpose of our study, we will be dividing this chapter into two parts with the first four seals (the four horsemen) being considered together followed by the second half of the chapter containing seals five and six. Again my reasons for this will be explained later when we overview the chapter.
Rev 6:1-2 The First Seal – The White Horse. (The Conqueror or Conquest)
1) “one of the four living creatures”
This is one of the four living creatures that we have already identified as Cherubim in chapter four. Although some commentaries have tried to identify this as the creature with the appearance of a lion because of his thundering voice we cannot accept this as a strong enough argument. It is most likely that the other three creatures have voices of equal power.
2) “Come”
There are two possible meanings to this instruction to come. This is caused by the fact that some Bible translations include the words ‘and see.’ So to take the first meaning we could understand this to be an instruction for the horseman to come forward, ride out into centre stage. But if we take the instruction as “come and see” then we would consider that this is an instruction for John to come and take special note of what is about to happen.
3) “A white horse”
The two possible meanings here are either purity or victory.
4) “a bow”
A bow, a weapon used for hunting or warfare. Clearly, this rider was not being sent on a friendly, peaceful mission.
5) “a crown” A victory crown not a ruling crown.
Greek (Strongs Concordance, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament.)
Rev 6:2 – Stephanos – victor’s crown, a prize in the public games or a symbol of honour.
(Strongs – Greek Page 67, word 4735)
Rev 19:12 – Diadema – a royal crown, a ruling crown.
(Strongs - Greek Page 22, word 1238)
6) Symbolic Meaning:- There are three possible ideas here in favour of this horseman being either Christ, one other than Christ, or one sent by Christ.
a) Pro Christ. (McGuiggan)
i. He is pictured as in .
ii. The ‘conquer’ used here is referring to the victory of Christ and the church.
iii. It is fitting that we should see Christ come first. (e.g. the first seal.)
iv. A scene similar to a Parthian worrier. Parthians who lived beyond the eastern borders of the Roman Empire usually rode white horses and were considered fearful opponents by the Romans.
See Rev 9 The Sixth Trumpet.
b) Other than Christ. (Barclay)
i. The crown and description of Christ in Rev 19:11-12 is different to the crown and description found in this verse.
ii. Christ the rider would be out of context with the other three horsemen.
iii. The context of the whole of this chapter would be out of context with Christ as this rider. The seven seals are woe upon woe or disaster upon disaster and we can not consider Christ to be a disaster.
c) One sent by Christ. Taking these two ideas into account we forced by the overall context of this chapter to consider this rider to be a victor or conqueror rather than Jesus Christ. The meaning is not Christ or one other than Christ, but rather one sent by Christ, under His direction, to perform a mission on His behalf.
Rev 6:3-4 The Second Seal – The Red Horse. (Persecution)
1) This horseman is called by the second living creature.
2) “Red” – carries the idea of danger, blood and war.
3) “Slay” – indicates slaughter. Not a war of conquest but a civil war.
“That man should slay one another”
4) “A great sword was given to him”
Greek:- machaira – sword or knife.
The idea behind this word is war, judicial punishment, put to the sword.
(Strongs Concordance, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament.)
(Page 46, Word 3162)
Rev 6:5-6 The Third Seal – The Black Horse. (Famine)
1) This horseman was called by the third living creature.
2) The theme of this rider is the forerunner of death.
2) “the scales” used for measuring. This seems to indicate an economic disaster.
3) “wheat” and “barley.”
“a quart of wheat”
Choenix – choinix – a dry measure.
(Strongs Greek – Page 78 Word 5518)
About the daily ration required for one man.
“three quarts of barley”
About the daily ration for three people.
“denarius”
A small silver coin worth about a day’s wages.
(Strongs Greek – Page 22, Word 1220)
Common everyday food items such as wheat and barley were to be kept at high prices, perhaps in short supply as in a famine. With the cost of staple food items worth so much, how could a man provide other things such as shelter for his family? But this is no ordinary famine; notice the situation concerning oil and wine.
4) “Oil and wine are not hurt”
These are the comforts or luxury items. They are still plentiful without an inflated price. This is not an ordinary famine where everything is affected but a situation where only selected items are targeted. This seems more like economic persecution, perhaps a persecution directed against certain people.
Rev 6:7-8 The Fourth Seal – The Livid Horse. (Death and Hades)
1) This horseman was called by the fourth living creature.
2) “Livid” The idea of pale-greenish white.
This is a colour representing disease or death.
3) The name of Death and Hades.
This is not Satan, who has the power of death, but death itself; who here is represented as a person.
Speaking of death as a person was very common among ancient people.
As an example:-
‘In the theology of the Phoenicians, according to Sanchoniathon, who wrote before the Trojan wars, a son of Saturn by Rhea was called Muth, whom the Phoenicians sometimes called Death, and sometimes Pluto;’
John Gill’s Expositor – Online Bible.
4) Death is not in control.
a) The authority was given to him. Who gave him this authority? Christ did.
b) Limited to only one fourth of the earth.
5) Men killed in four ways.
a) By the sword.
b) Famine.
c) Pestilence.
d) With wild beasts.
These four woes are very similar to those God warned He would send against Jerusalem.
Ezek “For thus says the Lord God, ‘How much more when I send My four severe judgements against Jerusalem; sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it’”
The Four Horsemen.
An Alternative View of the Four Horsemen.
From “The Revelation …God Gave” by Otis Gatewood.
The first four seals are visions of four horsemen, each a different colour, each telling a different story:-
Rev 6:2 “And I saw, and beheld a white horse…..”
The white horse indicated purity. When we are buried with our Lord in baptism, Paul says we are dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, Rom 6:3-11. The angels who appeared at the ascension of Christ were ‘in white apparel,’ Acts . When Christ was transfigured on the mountain, “His raiment was white”, Matt 17:2. Isaiah says: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow….” The wife of the Lamb we “granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints,” Rev 19:8. So all Christians are “white as snow,” Isa , when they are made alive, and Paul says “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God,” Col 3:3.
Rom says that Christians are “more than conquerors,” so Christ, through His saints, goes forth conquering, and to conquer as soon as we are baptised.
Rev 6:3-4 “….and there came out another horse that was red…..”
As soon as we are Christians, we are persecuted. II Tim says: “…all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Red is a sign of this suffering because many saints suffer martyrdom and death. All Christians suffer spiritual martyrdom, for we are dead. We, thus, die with Christ. I Thess says that we are “dead in Christ.” II Tim says: “For if we be dead with Him (Christ), we shall also live with Him.”
Red is also a sign of apostasy, of those who are polluted by sin, Rev 17:4-6, the apostate woman is “drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”
So the horse that was red, which is shown in the opening of the second seal, depicts all that is mentioned above.
Rev 6:5-6 “And I beheld, and lo, a black horse;…..”
A black horse is seen when the third seal is opened, depicting famine, Heb describes the righteous as “destitute afflicted, tormented.” The wicked are reserved in “the blackness of darkness for ever,” Jude 13. Heb says that Christians are not come “unto blackness and darkness.”
Rev 6:7-8 “And I looked and beheld a pale horse…..”
The pale horse, seen when the fourth seal is opened, depicted Death and Hell. Power was given unto him to kill in various ways. Spiritual famine is the result.
The Revelation …God Gave - by Otis Gatewood.
Pg 201 -202.
Problems Concerning the Four Horsemen.
This alternative view of the four horsemen by Otis Gatewood shows us how different interpretations can be built around the same verse.
In the Book of Revelation, the three series of visions known as the seals, the trumpets and the bowls of wrath are perhaps the hardest to find exact meanings for. I believe that the key here is to consider these three series within the context of each other and with the rest of the Book of Revelation. (See below for how I have done this in this study.)
The Seven Seals – The Forewarnings of the coming Judgement. Rev 6:1-17.
The Seven Trumpets – The Caution “Judgement has arrived.” Rev 8:7 – 9:21.
The Seven Bowls of Wrath – God’s Judgement. Rev 16:2-21.
It seems that one of the biggest problems with the four horsemen concerns the first horse. Whereas the other three horsemen of colours red, black and pale (livid) are easier to be seen as standing for death, persecution etc, the white colour of the 1st horseman seems to create a problem. Otis Gatewood tells us white stands for purity; therefore he is forced to take his view is that this horseman must be Christ or those within Christ. He presents a strong argument with scripture to back it up.
The problem I have with this is that now this horseman stands out from the rest of the three series of visions I mentioned above. Otis Gatewood goes on to show the other three horsemen being of similar meanings but his arguments here get weaker with each horseman. We, therefore, must consider the white horse to have a different meaning to Christ, one other than Christ. This is where we can use another meaning of white – that of a conqueror. This meaning still fits with the context of these 4 horsemen being sent by God to bring judgement upon mankind. The idea of white meaning conquers also fits into the view of the ‘The Victorious Christ’ of -17.
When we think of these four horsemen as being sent out by Christ, under the authority of Christ, we can see that, to a limited extent, their appearance takes on some of the qualities and power of Christ. I’ll let Mark Copeland explain:-
Rev 6:1-2 “….a crown was given to him…” (the rider of the white horse.)
Rev 6:3-4 “….it was granted to the one…there was given to him….”
(the rider of the red horse).
Rev 6:5-6 “….a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying…”
(the rider of the black horse).
Rev 6:7-8 “…power was given to them….” (rider of the pale horse- Death and Hades).
Who had the power to give a crown, or to grant such authority? Who in the midst of the four living creatures might have spoken? Who had the power to give to Death and Hades? When we consider that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth Rev 1:5, that He has the keys of Hades and of Death Rev 1:18, and that He was in the midst of the four living creatures Rev 5:6, it seems apparent that the answer is Christ. The horses and their riders were acting upon the authority and power given to them by Christ.
Revelation Notes - by Mark Copeland. Pg 31.
The four horsemen are in turn called to ride into the throne room scene where they are given authority to deliver destruction to mankind upon the Earth. As we have seen these four horsemen are under the direction of Christ. Their authority is given by Christ to carry out His judgement upon a wicked, unrighteous mankind.
There are two interesting parallel passages worth considering are Isa 13:1-22 where God brings His judgement upon the city of Babylon and Isa 34:1-17 where God brings judgement upon Edom. Although different methods are used in each of these two cases, the language used is very similar to that which John used to describe the four horsemen. In both of these passages from Isaiah, we see God sending judgement or punishment upon a nation. In Chapter Six of Revelation, the theme is the same, God bringing judgement or punishment upon unrepentant men.
Another parallel passage can be found in Zech 6:1-8. In this vision that God sent to Zechariah, we see four chariots pulled by horses of four different colours. Notice the colours of the horses, very similar to Revelation except listed in a different order. We also see that where in Zechariah the horses are pulling chariots, in Revelation the horses are being ridden by horsemen.
When Zechariah asked the angel for an exclamation he was told: - “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth.” They were sent out from God to “Go, patrol the earth.” Zech 6:1-8 The angel’s explanation fits in with the theme of God bringing judgement against a stubborn sinful mankind.
We can apply this same idea to the four horsemen of Revelation and consider them to be ‘four spirits of heaven’ sent out by Christ to bring His judgement upon the earth. Again we see the same idea of God sending judgement and punishment upon sinful men.
The meaning here is also very similar to the four winds sent by God in Rev 7:1. Again we see the same theme of God’s judgement. In Zechariah and in these two passages from Revelation we see this God’s judgement is carried out by four. With the meaning of four being the world or mankind, it is easy to see who God is directing His wrath against.
See Appendix C – Symbolism of Numbers, Colours and Animals.
Rev 6:9-11 The Fifth Seal – The Souls Under the Altar.
Rev 6:9 The Altar.
1) “the Altar” – an altar appeared in heaven.
There are two possible meanings here, either the altar of burnt offering as used in the court before the temple or the altar of incense found in the outer sanctuary. Of these, the altar of burnt offering seems the most likely because this altar was used for sacrifices. The general theme of this passage is the souls of martyrs who gave their lives, sacrificed on God's altar as victims in his cause, and their blood poured out beneath it.
This altar appears again in .
2) “souls of those who had been slain…”
These included all the martyrs who were put to death in persecutions preceding this persecution John is warning us about. "Souls", being immaterial are usually invisible to the human eye. These souls, being visible to John were either clothed with corporeal forms, as angels sometimes are, or rather John saw them in a visionary way. This verse gives us an interesting insight into souls. These were the souls of people who "were slain"; their bodies were dead, but their souls were still alive; which shows the immortality of souls, and that they die not with their bodies, and that they live after death in a separate state.
John Gill’s Expositor – Online Bible
3) These souls were martyrs who died as a sacrifice to God.
The Syrian and Arabic versions read, "for the testimony of the Lamb"
See Paul’s thoughts on this 2 Tim 4:6.
4) Rev 20:4 The reign of the saints. The saints we see in Rev 20:4 are the souls under the altar seen in this chapter. These are those who are seen here under the altar. They are now with Christ, reigning with Him for a thousand years.
-11 Their Cry for Vengeance.
1) They were awake.
The fact that they cried out to God shows that these souls were awake and not asleep. They knew what was going on around them. This verse points to the fact that the soul does not lay with the body in the grave, but instead is still very much alive, waiting until everything is finished.
2) Their cry – “How long, O Lord, holy and true…”
a) A loud voice.
With great fervency, great feeling and emotion. The loudness was not out of disrespect towards God but a sign of the pressing, important nature of their call.
b) “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth.”
i) They show respect to God by calling Him holy and true.
ii) They want to know how long before He takes action.
iii) They want God to pass judgement upon those who were persecuting His people.
See Job 24:12.
c) Their cry is not out of character for a Christian. Their cry is not out of personal vengeance but a call to God to act according to His nature. They didn’t doubt that God would judge and avenge their enemies; they just want to know how long He will allow this evil, the persecution of their brethren to continue.
d) Vengeance from God not from Man.
Deut 32:43 “Rejoice, O nations, with His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will take vengeance on His enemies….”
Rom “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
The souls under the altar should be waiting on God to take vengeance on their behalf. It is not proper for a Christian to take revenge. Instead, we should wait for God, confident in His promise that He will render vengeance on those who persecute us.
3) God’s reply.
a) “A white robe….”
White is a sign of their victory and their purity.
Rev 3:5; Rev 7:9
An interesting side point here is the word robe as it is used in early manuscripts. For the Alexandrian and Syrian versions the singular number, “a white robe” is used while other versions use the plural form “white robes.”
b) “they should rest”
They should have rest; eternal rest from all their toil and labour, from all their sorrows and sufferings of every kind, which rest remains for the people of God.
John Gill’s Expositor, On line Bible.
c) “…for a little while longer”
Either until the end of this persecution when vengeance would be taken on the Roman empire, and it would be no more as Pagan; or until the day of judgment, when full vengeance will be inflicted on the persecutors of the saints;
John Gill’s Expositor, On line Bible.
There is an interesting lesson for us here. Over the past two thousand years, many Christians have become martyrs because of their faith. Although persecutors may put Christians to death thinking they have annihilated them and removed any influence they might have, we can see that this is clearly not the case.
First, by killing a Christian all that is killed is the physical body. The soul remains alive, unable to be touched by any worldly persecutors.
Secondly, by killing a Christian their influence has not been removed, rather it has been increased. As a martyr, they are now examples of faith for their fellow Christians. Also as this passage has shown us Christians who have been killed for their faith do have contact with God and so have some influence with God.
An example of this is in the case of Rome. During the first few centuries in spite of all the effort the Romans made to wipe out Christianity, the church continued to grow from strength to strength.
For more on death and life after death see Appendix H ‘Death, Resurrection and Eternity.
Rev 6:12-17 The Sixth Seal - Warning of God’s Judgement.
-14 The Great Upheaval
1) “there was a great earthquake”
Ezel 38:19 “There will be a great shaking….”
Joel “Before them the earth shakes and the heavens tremble”
Amos 8:8; Haggai 2:6
All these Old Testament verses point to God placing judgement upon evil men. It is the same in this passage. From the time of Moses, God’s judgement has always been described with great natural calamities such as we see in these three verses.
Heb 12:22-28 “…since we receive a Kingdom which cannot be shaken”
As an interesting sideline to this verse let’s look at Heb where we are told that we have received a kingdom, the church, which cannot be shaken. The church will not be affected by this judgement of God. God’s wrath is directed at evil men.
See as a list of those affected.
2) “the sun became black as sackcloth…
and the moon became like blood”
Amos 8:9 “make the sun go down at ,
And the earth dark in broad daylight.”
Joel “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.”
Isa 13:10, 50:3; Ezel 32:7
3) “the stars of the sky fell…”
Matt 24:29 Mark
“The stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heaven will be shaken”
Isa “I will make the heavens tremble.”
Isa 34:4 “the sky will be rolled up like a scroll.”
Isa 13:1-22 God’s judgement on Babylon.
Hos 10:7-8 God’s judgement on Samaria.
Luke 23:28-30 God’s judgement on Jerusalem.
4) “every mountain and hill was moved out of their places”
Jer “The mountains will shake and the hills move to and fro…”
Nah 1:5 “Mountains will quake because of Him,
And the hills dissolve.”
Notice how many scriptures we can find in other parts of the Bible that are similar pictures to those that we find here. The images and language that John uses here would not have been unknown to his first-century readers. They would have known that these images are pictures of God’s judgement upon wicked nations or people.
Today many people try and apply literal meanings to visions like this. Suddenly they are at a loss to explain such wild ideas as stars falling, oceans turning to blood and mountains moving.
For our study, we need to keep in mind the rules of apocalyptic literature. We ask ourselves “What does this picture or idea mean here?” We then take this meaning and apply it to the similar verse in Revelation and ask ourselves, “Does this meaning fit this verse and its context?”
-17 The Reaction of Mankind.
1) gives us a list of those affected by this judgment & their reaction.
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men,”
These are the Roman emperors, and other principal magistrates, governors of provinces and cities.
“and the rich men”
These are the nobles, the senate of Rome and other wealthy men.
“the chief captains”
Here we see the military commanders, generals or captains of thousands, who had the command of the Roman legions, the powerful Roman Armies.
“and the mighty men”
This next group is the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were under these commanders, men of strength, courage, and valour who fought for and protected the empire.
“and every bondman, and every freeman”
This final group takes in all the other inhabitants of the Roman Empire, such as slaves and free men.
In fact, this list covers everyone from the Emperor down to the lowest slave. The meaning here is everyone will face God’s coming Judgement. No one can escape from God. All will be called upon to account for their sinful deeds and actions whether they like it or not.
2) “Hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
They said to the mountains and the rock, ‘Fall on us and hide us….”
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!’ And to the hills, ‘Fall on us’”
Hos 10:8
But of course, this was in vain because no one can hide from God. No matter how far under the mountains men crawl, they can still be seen by God. He still knows where they are and knows the sins they do.
Rev 6:15-16 An Announcement of Judgement
1) Notice in verse 15 & 16 that no one is hurt.
This is not a judgement just a warning or an announcement of the coming judgement on Rome. When we look at the greater context of the Book of Revelation we finally see this judgement on Rome later in the book.
The fact that nobody was hurt makes this vision harder to understand. Such natural disasters as John describes here would normally have caused great loss of life if not total destruction of the earth itself
See the overview at the end of this chapter.
2) “who is able to stand.”
Finally, in the last verse of this chapter, the question is asked:- “Who is able to Stand?” The meaning here is, now that the time of judgement has arrived who is able to stand before the throne blameless? Who is able to survive the wrath of the Lamb’s judgement?
Overview:- The Story so Far.
Well, after a chapter like that are you still with me? Let’s look back over the last few chapters and try and make some sense out of all this.
The Seven Churches of Asia.
The Introduction Rev 1:1 – 3:22
The Vision of the Son of Man. Rev 1:9-20.
Letters to the Seven Churches. Rev 2:1 – 3:22
The Vision of the Seven Seals. Rev 4:1 – 11:19
The Throne Scene Rev Chapter 4
The Lamb and the Sealed Book. Rev Chapter 5
First Six seals are broken. Rev Chapter 6
The Four Horsemen Rev 6:1-8
The Souls Under the Altar. Rev 6:9-11
Warning of the Coming Judgement. Rev 6:12-17
At the end of Chapter 6, we are still in The Throne Scene. The Lamb (Christ), the only one found worthy enough, has taken the book from the hand of God and begun to open the seven seals which seal it. As each seal was opened we were presented with an image or vision.
1st Seal. . . . . . . . The White Horse – The Conquer. Rev 6:1-2.
2nd Seal. . . . . . . The Red Horse – The Persecutor. Rev 6:3-4.
3rd Seal. . . . . . . The Black Horse – Famine, Forerunner of Death. Rev 6:5-6.
4th Seal. . . . . . . The Livid Horse – Death and Hades. Rev 6:7-8.
5th Seal. . . . . . . The Souls of the Martyrs. Rev 6:9-11.
6th Seal. . . . . . . The Announcement of Judgement. Rev 6:12-17.
The first four seals fit together as they show the ones who will carry out God’s Judgement or you could say the means by which God will carry out His Judgement. When we get to the 5th seal the theme changes as we view the souls under the altar, those who are calling for God’s vengeance, calling for God to act. Finally, there is the 6th seal. Although it seems as if this is God’s Judgement when we consider verses 15 & 16 where no one is hurt we realize that this is not the judgement of God. Taken against the overall context of Revelation we find that this is only a warning of the coming Judgement.
Before we continue into the next chapter it might be interesting to consider the relationship that the seven seals have with other parts of Revelation. The book of Revelation contains three series of judgement visions. These are the seven seals, which we have just seen, the seven trumpets, which begin in chapter 8 and the seven bowls of wrath found later in the book. You could consider these to be layers of judgement laid over each other with each layer worse than the one before. I will explain in greater detail later in this study but for now, keep in mind this simple summary below.
The Seven Seals – The Forewarnings of the coming Judgement. Rev 6:1-17.
The Seven Trumpets – The Caution “Judgement has arrived.” Rev 8:7 – 9:21.
The Seven Bowls of Wrath – God’s Judgement. Rev 16:2-21.
After this announcement of the terrible judgements about to come upon the world the question that comes to mind is what is going to happen to the Christians. Well before we open the final 7th seal in Chapter 8 we are going to take time out to answer this question. Chapter 7 can be considered as a sort of “interlude” a time out before we will pickup the main Revelation story again in Chapter 8.
