The Breaking of the Seals

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The First Seal

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We have been told what John saw and heard while in the spirit and taken up into the very throne room of God. He saw God on His throne surrounded by 24 Elders and 4 Creatures. In the right hand of God John saw a scroll sealed with seven seals. The scroll was given to Christ, as He was worthy to open it, and as He opens each seal, John sees a vision. This is the first of the promised revelation of things that are to come to pass, a series of seven visions of "great woes" that will come to pass prior to the end of the world. These events are touched upon in the Gospels, war, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, persecutions, pestilence, unusual activity in the heavens and changes in the sun, moon and stars. Scholars differ on how these visions should be interpreted. Some believe they relate to specific historical events and others believe that they are events that will happen many times in the course of history. I tend to go along with the first.

As Christ opens the first seal, one of the 4 creatures calls John to come and see what had happened:

1. A Man on a "white horse" appears. The Man was the Christ. He was going to battle but why was He on a "white horse" when black horses were favored in war? In this war, Jesus is assured of victory and white signifies purity of the instrument of His victory, the Gospel.
2. The Man had a "bow" in His hand. The arrows were in the hands of His ministers. The convicting words of the Gospel penetrate the soul like a sharp arrow and though the ministers of the word cast their arrows at random, God can and will direct their path. The arrow never returns to Him empty handed, it will accomplish that which God ascribes to it.
3. The Man receives a crown, for He is king in the life of those who receive the Gospel.
4. The Man went forth conquering. As long as the church, the body of Christ, remains on this earth, Christ will conquer evil, congregation after congregation, generation after generation.

Now what is established by the opening of this seal?

1. The successful growth of the Gospel of Christ.
2. The Kingdom of Christ will be established and enlarged in spite of anything that happens to the kingdoms of this world.
3. There is an "acceptable time" for sinners, Grace before the plagues are poured out.
4. Christ will work in His own time. The Gospel goes forth slowly, but effectively. Christ will do His work in His own time and His own way.

This John saw and came to understand as the first seal was opened.

The remaining visions are clearly the work of the Anti-christ, but why do they resemble the work of the Lord? The following should help explain this.

1. The Bible warns that the Anti-Christ will resemble the Christ because he is Satan's great imitator. He will come disguised as a peaceful leader, holding a bow without arrows. Deception is the chief tool of the Anti-christ.
2. This great deceiver will come from within the church appearing to solve the world problems and be received as the "great liberator".
3. Even his crown is a deception. The crown he wears is called "stephanos" in the Greek, which means, "the victors crown". The crown that Christ wears is called "diadema" in the Greek, which means, "the Kingly Crown".
4. Even his mission is a deception. Daniel prophesied that a "prince" would come and make a covenant with Israel to protect her from her enemies. He would begin his work as a peacemaker and by false love and concern finally control the whole world.

The following is an interesting parallel between this chapter (6) in Revelation and Chapter 24 in Matthew:

Revelation Chapter 6	Matthew Chapter 24
Verses 1-2 - white horse - deception	Verses 4-5 - false Christs
Verses 3-4 - red horse - war	Verse 6 - war
Verses 5-6 - black horse - famine	Verse 7a - famine
Verses 7-8 - pale horse - death	Verses 7b-8 - death
Verses 9-11- martyrs	Verse 9 - martyrs
Verses 12-17 - world wide chaos	Verses 10-13 - world wide chaos

In my opinion, the first vision, following the opening of the first seal, describes the coming into power of the Anti-christ, thus we will see, in the remaining visions, the deception of the Anti-christ.

The Second Seal

As Christ opens the second seal, again one of the 4 creatures calls John to come see what had happened:

1. A man on a "red horse" appears. Red signifies the desolation of war. The rider represents the instrument of God to conduct war-causing men to deceive and slay one another just as God had raised up Babylon to destroy Jerusalem.
2. Notice what the rider was to do. "Take peace from the earth so the inhabitants would kill one another." Could the rider be the Christ? Was Christ's mission ever to take peace from the earth? Was not Christ's victory achieved by His own death not the death of innocent people.

In my opinion the second vision describes the havoc of man against man caused by the deception of the Anti-christ.

The Third Seal

As Christ opens the third seal, again one of the 4 creatures calls John to come see what had happened:

1. A man on a black horse appears. Black signifies famine. Starvation is a terrible judgment.
2. He carries a set of scales in his hand signifying that all must buy their bread by weight. Lev. 26:26 "They will deliver your bread to you by weight." But most people won't be able to buy it because it cost to much. But it will only cost a "denarius". (Sometimes called a penny). How much is a denarius worth?
   1. A days wages for a laborer.
   2. The equivalent of 10 donkies.
   3. A "measure" of wheat ( 2-pints). One days supply for one person.
   During the Tribulation a man will have to work all day to secure enough food for himself. There will not be enough for his family. The Anti-christ will promise to feed the hungry masses until after they gain control (Socialism)
3. Notice the inequity of the famine. Bread would be priced beyond the poor mans reach, but oil and wine, the food of the rich, would still be available.

History bears out an interesting sidelight, the three main staples of food at that time were wheat, for bread, oil, for cooking and wine for drink and a source of sugar. Wine brought the best price so it was planted in place of wheat resulting in a scarcity of wheat. In AD 92, Domitrian, a Roman Caesar, decreed that no new vineyards could be planted and half of those already planted in the outlying regions be removed and wheat planted. This helped the situation.

What truths can we draw from this:

1. When people come to dislike "spiritual food", God may deprive them of "physical food".
2. Everything usually comes in "threes". Here, war, famine and the loss of God's word.

In my opinion the third vision describes the inevitable result of war, loss of food, and the inevitable result of disobedience, loss of God's word, which, of course, is the aim of the Anti-christ.

The Fourth Seal

As Christ opens the fourth seal, one of the 4 creatures again calls John to see what had happened:

1. A man on a "pale" horse appears, pale as death, which was the rider's name. Death stocks the land.
2. The Rider was followed by Hell or Hades. Death claims the body and Hades claims the soul.
3. Notice the powers that they were given. They could kill by the sword, or with famine, pestilence or wild beasts.
4. Notice how many were killed. A fourth of the whole earth. God limits the extent of this destruction. The Anti-christ can go only as far as God will let them.

We, as Christians, have nothing to fear. Death and Hades fall before Christ and will ultimately be thrown into the "Lake of Fire". Whatever form the Anti-christ takes, i.e. liberals, A.C.L.U., left wing, homosexuals, or what have you, the ultimate victory belongs to Christ. In my opinion the fourth vision describes the results of the second and third visions, war and famine ultimately lead to death.

The Fifth Seal

John is left on his own in this vision. All 4 of the creatures had discharged their duty as a monitor. Remember that the 4 creatures were symbolic of Christ's ministers and what occurs in this vision will happen beyond the time of the present ministers of the church.

Notice what John saw:

1. He saw, under the alter of God, the souls of those who had been slain for witnessing. This Alter is the Holy Place in Heaven referred to as "at the feet of Jesus". This was a favorite place for the Disciples. It was the place Mary chose when Martha complained about her being wasteful and negligent of her duties. So John saw the souls of the martyrs at the feet of Jesus. This touches on some very encouraging things:
   1. Persecutors can only kill the body.
   2. God has provided a "good place" in a better world for those who are faithful unto the end.
   3. Martyrs are very near to Christ in Heaven.
   4. They do not attain this honored place because of their spilt blood. Their robes will be white, just like ours, because they to are "washed" in the "blood of the Lamb".
2. John noticed the cause for which they died. They believed the Word of God and gave witness to it and for that they were martyred.
3. John heard the martyrs cry out for "revenge". Matthew Henry has this to say about "revenge" "Even the spirits of 'just men made perfect' retain a proper resentment of the wrong they have sustained by their cruel enemies. Though they died in charity, praying that God would forgive them as Christ did, yet they were desirous, for the honor of God and the Gospel, that revenge would fall upon the sin of persecution". Even while He pardons and saves the persecutors. They commit their cause to Him to whom vengeance belongs.
4. Notice what each martyr received. "A white robe".
   1. The robe of righteousness.
   2. The robe of victory and honor.
   3. The covering for sins.
5. Notice what was said to them. "Rest a little longer until your number will be complete." Several things can be derived from this:
   1. They should be satisfied and rest easy.
   2. It would not be long before their fellow martyrs would join them.
   3. Patience is needed on both sides of life.
   4. There is a number of Christians appointed or foreknown by God that will be martyred.
   5. When this number is complete, God will revenge their persecutors.

In my opinion the fifth vision describes the fate of many Christians during the Reformation and those who will be alive during the Tribulation.

The Sixth Seal

John appears to be right in the midst of the vision. He witnesses a great destruction. Notice the similarity between this vision and the account in Matthew 24:29-31, the words of Jesus relative to the "end of the world". "Immediately after the tribulation the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give it's light, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of heaven will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and He will send out His Angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other".

Notice what John saw. "A great earthquake and the sun became black, the moon became like blood, the stars fell to the earth, the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from it's place." Surly John saw the end of the world.

Remembering that this is written in an apocalyptic format, lets look at the possible events that may be symbolically portrayed by these words.

1. A great earthquake. The shaking up of the very foundations of all that we have come to accept as immovable and unchangeable about the church and this world.
2. The sun will become black. That which has always been dependable, which has been the source of our light and strength will become darkened.
3. The moon shall become as blood. The moon represents night. Blood will flow as it did during the Passover in Egypt. Death will stock man at night. The earth will be red in the glow of the moon.
4. The stars of heaven shall fall to the earth. This could symbolize the fall of men or rulers or it could literly describe the earth being bombarded by meteorites.
5. The sky shall vanish like a scroll that is rolled up. This could denote the Jewish relationship to God being temporally laid aside because of their rejection of the Christ or the actual destruction of the atmosphere that surrounds the earth which has already started to happen.
6. Every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place. This denotes the destruction of all the was considered indestructible. For the Jew it will be their "favored" position with God, for others it might simply be power and riches that they thought were indestructible.
7. Those who are alive will call upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon them and kill them but death will be a luxury that will not be theirs. Nowhere can they escape the anger of Him that sits on the throne.

We have here described the Day of the Great Tribulation. No one will be able to escape the wrath of the Lamb.

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