Rev 6:3-4 | KingComments | STEP | 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. . 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. . Here horses represent authorities that God in His providence uses for judgment (cf. ; ). 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. ). 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 ( ). 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. . When “the second seal” is opened by the Lamb, John hears the second living creature saying: “Come!” Because in 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 ( ). 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 ( ). Peace is a result of the subjection of man to the government of God. . 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 ( ; ; ; ). The pair of scales indicates an accurate measurement of what is available. The general prosperity is over and done with. . 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 ( ). 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 ( ). 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 ( ). It is also possible when considering oil and wine to think of medicines ( ). 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. . 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 ( ). 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” ( ; ). 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.

‏ Revelation of John 6:3-4

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.