John s Revelation of Jesus Christ Lesson 4 The Lamb of God has the book with the seals and He is about to begin breaking each seal individually. As the seals are broken in heaven at the throne of God, events begin happening both in heaven and earth. Chapter 6 6:1 And 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 And 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. White Horse! THE FIRST SEAL IS BROKEN IN HEAVEN AND THE RESULT IS SEEN ON EARTH When the first seal is broken, the first creature roars like thunder the word,. The creature with the face of a lion calls for the white horse to make his appearance on earth. The rider on the white horse is a ruler because he has a crown. Besides the crown, what else has been given to the rider? A bow. In 95 AD the bow was a formidable instrument of war. For centuries after this letter, it would still be one of the most deadly instruments of war. What is the rider sent out to do? To conquer. As rulers would do in 95 AD, they would go out to conquer the earth by taking over land and people groups. As a ruler, this rider holds the crown which gives him the authority to take over nations and he holds the instrument of war to successfully conquer those whom he wishes to conquer. We might stop to ask, why was he not given any arrows for the bow? That is a good question. We can only speculate that the mere presence of the crown as a symbol of authority and the bow as an instrument of war allows the rider on the white horse to conquer lands, peoples, and nations without shooting a single arrow, but this is only speculation. Taking the text at face value, the Revelation only reveals that on earth, a man is given authority with the crown and power with the bow to conquer nations he wishes to conquer. 3 And 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 should slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. E THE SECOND SEAL IS BROKEN IN HEAVEN AND THE RESULT IS SEEN ON EARTH When the second seal is broken in heaven, the second creature with the Red Horse face of a calf calls for the red horse to come. It is the signal for this rider to go out onto the earth and fulfill his assigned duties. What was the granted job duty of the rider on the red horse? To take peace from the earth. When peace was removed from the earth, what did men start doing to other men? Slay them. What was given to the red horse rider that allowed him to complete his granted duty? A great sword. While the white horse rider went about conquering in a 25
peaceful manner because of his ruler-ship and instrument of war, this red horse rider bares no symbol of authority or ruler-ship yet he has a great sword. Once again we can only speculate, but if we read in between the lines, we can see that he gathers men and provides them with weapons and leads them into peaceful regions, killing peaceful folks and inciting a violent war wherever he and his men go, but this is only speculation. What we know is that this red horse rider has the men and the means to kill and put the earth in turmoil. 5 And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." And 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 as it were 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 harm the oil and wine." E the Black Horse THE THIRD SEAL IS BROKEN IN HEAVEN AND THE RESULT IS SEEN ON EARTH When the third seal is broken, the creature with the face of a man calls for the black horse to Come forth. What does the rider on the black horse hold in his hand? A pair of scales. From where does the voice that speaks next come? The center of the four living creatures. Perhaps the Lamb of God is speaking since the four living creatures are around Him, but this is only speculation for Jesus does not reveal to John who is speaking. What does the voice say? A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine. The four essential food items in 95 AD to sustain life for even the poorest of people were wheat, barley, oil, and wine. A quart of wheat provide about three times more nutrition to sustain life than a quart of barley, yet because barley was always cheaper, the poor purchased it more often instead of wheat, even though they would have to purchase three times as much. We can understand it better in this illustration. It would require three quarts of barley to make the same size loaf of bread that can be made with one quart of wheat. The text states that the order is given from heaven that a quart of wheat was to sell for a denarius and likewise three quarts of barley was to sell for a denarius. How much is a denarius? This is difficult question to answer since the value of the dollar has changed almost daily over the last several hundred years. A denarius would just be pennies in our currency today. Historic records tell us that the average day s wage was about one denarius. Therefore, a man would work an entire day in order to purchase one quart of wheat or three quarts of barley. This was expensive. We can only speculate, but the voice in heaven is re-setting the price of food on earth. The rider on the black horse is bringing a balance to the price of nutrition. For the staples of wheat and barley, the price for the nutritional value will be the same, thus a quart of wheat sales for the same price as three quarts of barley. The greater problem is that one quart of wheat would only feed one person per day. For a man with a family it could take a week worth of wages to buy one days provision of food. In addition, oil and wine are not to be harmed. While these prices are excessive, the black horse rider brings a balance back to the world economy, but like the white horse and red horse, this is only speculation at this point in the Revelation. 26
7 And when He broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." 8 And I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. And 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 FOURTH SEAL IS BROKEN IN HEAVEN AND THE RESULT IS SEEN ON Ashen / Pale Horse EARTH When the fourth seal is broken by the Lamb of God, the fourth creature with the face of eagle calls forth the ashen or pale horse to Come upon the earth. What was the name of the rider on the ashen horse? Death. What was following this rider and ashen horse? Hades. Rarely used in the New Testament, after Calvary and the resurrection, Hades represents the place that holds the souls of those who died without Christ. It is a place of torment and misery. It is the holding place until the Great White Throne Judgment which will transfer all participants in Hades to the Lake of Fire. Hades always follows near behind death! How much of the earth does this rider on the ashen horse have authority over? One fourth. What does this rider have authority to do to mankind on that one-forth of the earth. To kill by sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. We can only speculate, but it seems that this rider has supernatural abilities to control nature. To kill by the sword needs no supernatural abilities. Neither does this rider need supernatural abilities to kill by famine. To do this he only needs to cut off the food supply. But to kill with pestilence and wild beasts on such a massive scale would need supernatural powers and controls. Since the Lamb of God is breaking these seals and since He is the creator of all that exists, He has the power to delegate these supernatural powers to this man. Yet all this is just speculation. What we do know is that this rider will bring death to one fourth of the population. 9 And when He 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, wilt Thou 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, should be completed also. THE FIFTH SEAL IS BROKEN IN HEAVEN AND THE SCENE IS IN HEAVEN With the breaking of the fifth seal, there is no call from the living creatures to come. The scene is a sobering sight as John s eyes are focused on the souls that are under the altar of God s throne. What are these souls under the altar crying out? "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" How did these souls come to be under the altar? They were killed. What does the Lord call them? Servants. What gift had they been given? White robes. How long were they told to wait? A little longer. How long would 27
they have to wait? Until all their fellow servants and brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been killed, were killed. Evidently the red horse and black horse riders had been successful in their endeavors. In their killing rampage, these believers had been killed and they were granted immediately their robe of white, their imperishable bodies and they were relegated to the waiting place under the altar. At the time of the breaking of this fifth seal not everyone who is going to be killed has been killed yet. There were still believers yet to die among those who were to be killed. All believers who die at this point would go under the altar waiting for the proper time of judgment and avenging of their blood on the earth. 12 And 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 And 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 And 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?" THE SIXTH SEAL IS BROKEN IN HEAVEN AND THE SCENE RETURNS TO EARTH With the breaking of this sixth seal, all manner of catastrophes begin on earth and in the skies above. With the breaking of this seal the foundation of the whole earth is shaken. First, there is the great earthquake that can be felt worldwide. Second, the sun is blacked out. It is still visible but it is black. Third, the moon too can be seen and it looks like blood. Fourth, stars begin falling from the sky to the earth like ripened figs fall from a fig tree in a strong wind. Fifth, the sky splits and begins to roll up. Sixth, every mountain and every island is shifted from its original place. Seventh, all classes of people hide, knowing the wrath of the Lamb of God is at hand. They beg for the rock to fall on them and kill them because they know the great wrath of the Lamb of God. We can only speculate, but these kings, great men, commanders, rich, strong, slave, and free men are those who have opposed God at every turn and have not made the Lamb of God the Lord of their life. They are fearful and they have every reason to fear. Why do these men have a reason to fear? Because the great day of their wrath has come! It is a day they will not live through! 28
TIMELINE OF EVENTS Things Which You Have Seen. Things Which Are Things Which Will Take Place After The Things Which are 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Day of the Wrath of the Lamb of God Completed and recorded in Revelation Chapter 1 Begun in 95 AD and completed in before 1922 AD. Recorded in Revelation 2 & 3 Scene in heaven and the selection of the One worthy to open the seals on the book. Revelation 4 & 5 White horse and rider going out to conquer the earth. Red horse and rider going out to kill men and take peace from the earth. Black horse and rider bring balance to the economy of the earth. Ashen/pale horse and rider bringing death to one fourth of the earth. The souls under the altar beg for the killing to stop on earth. The great earthquake Sun turns black Moon turns red Stars fall from the sky Sky splits open and rolls apart Every mountain and island is shifted from its original place People from all classes hide themselves and beg to die before the Lord arrives. 29