Lesson
16
Revelation
Chapter 6
The 6 Seals of Rev 6 - The Detail
Seal #1 Rider on the White Horse! 6:1-2
Some comparisons:
1. Arrival on the scene; both come on white horses; ch19 = Christ
2. Crowns; 6:2 crown = ste,fanoj an earned reward;
In
3. Weapons used 6:2;
bow, distant warfare;
Conclusion then that we must draw is that they are
not the same and that this rider on
the white horse is a counterfeit, a false Messiah.
Imagery used;
1. "white
horse"; horses indicate the intervention into human affairs.
- white = righteousness
and holiness; here it would be counterfeit.
2. "bow" =
notice its a bow w/o arrows
Summary!
1. The first seal indicates
that this is a time of peace, no warfare, no blood shed; a time of bloodless
conquest. [Diplomacy dominates]
2. This tells us that the
Trib. begins with a period of peace established by a counterfeit, a false Messiah;
GWD
3. Perspective for us:
a. major world wide peace
talks, plans, movements are significant indicators. [converging
conditions]
b. Is there a trend in the
thinking of the day to accept, to be open to peace proposals.
Seal
#2 6:3-4 War!
The empty bow is exchanged for a great sword.
It is at this point that the false peace is removed, it’s a counterfeit
peace of the everlasting peace that will come under the Messiah's reign.
From this point all the way to the end of the Trib
there will be wars ultimately culminating in the big one, the battle of
Armageddon.
Having rejected the substance of the real Christ,
they buy into the pseudo peace of the false Messiah; and they quickly find the
white horse followed by the red scourge of war.
Imagery here; the red horse; God's wrath poured out,
Seal
#3 The Black Horse - Famine.
Economic Judgment
6:5-6
One of the things that often follows
warfare is famine; especially in those areas where the battles are fought;
crops are destroyed; the whole agriculture routine is upset.
Black is the color of mourning and famine.
The rider on the black horse carries a scale, a
balance used to weigh out grain, here wheat and barley, for purchase. The nature of this judgment is economic. (poverty and famine)
Curious phrase at the end;
"do not harm the oil and the wine."
- this speaks of the luxury
food items; they will not be in short supply as the wheat and barley but most
will not be able to purchase, only the very rich, will be able to buy what they
want.
Seal
# 4 The Pale horse - Death 6:7-8
ashen, pale = clwro,j; yellowish green; color of death, corpse; or the
bleached look of one struck with terror
This is the 4th horseman of the Apocalypse is the
most devastating of the horseman.
"...he
who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him."
Death and hades: appears together 3 other times in Rev.
#1 In 1:18 Christ said, "I have the keys of
death and of hades"
- Says Christ has the key
to unlocking the hold that spiritual death, and the
sting of physical death have for the one who believes.
#2
- Situation here is the 2nd
resurrection; all unbelievers of all of human history are raised to appear at
the GWTJ.
#3 6:8 Death does not end it all!
- Death claims the body,
while Hades, the temporary abode for the immaterial part of man claims the soul
and the spirit.
- What John sees here is
these 2, death with Hades following, personified, going forth to claim their
prey, armed with weapons; sword,
w/famine, w/pestilence and wild beasts.
Notice it says that And
authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth,
Note to remember: In all of these terrible
judgments, need to realize that God is in control, these are all from the
throne of judgment, and in all of it His purposes will be accomplished.
This marks the end of the horsemen; a break in the
sequence of seal judgments;
This break is also noted in Mt 24:8 by the
statement that the preceding conditions, judgments are but the beginning of
birth pangs.