Revalation

References are taken from Are We Living in the End Times? Dr Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins

Chapter 6

This is when Jesus (the Lamb) opens the seven seals, the first seven judgements.

The Seals

1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures (Rev 4:6-8) say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

The first seal introduces the initial member of the famous "four horsemen of the Apocalypse." The rider is said to have a bow but no arrows, indicting that although he is militarily strong, in the beginning he does his conquering by diplomacy. Since he wears a crown, we know that he is successful in his efforts. And who is this rider on a white horse? There can be no doubt that it is the Antichrist, who through deceit and clever manoeuvring will bring a false peace to the world. But that peace will not last.

3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

John writes of the second horseman, "The rider was give power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. To him was given a large sword. I believe the seal represents a great conflagration we might call World War III. When Daniel's "three kings" oppose the Antichrist (Daniel 7:24), he will respond in deadly fashion, swiftly crushing his enemies and bringing death to earth on a massive scale never known before

5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart (Greek choinix, probably about a litre) of wheat for a day's wages (Greek denarius), and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine

Rampant inflation is suggested by John's words, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not harm the oil and the wine." Since a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley are basically subsistence diets, John is indicating that a man will have to work all day just to get enough food to eat, with nothing left over for his family or the elderly. On the other hand, the call to not "harm the oil and the wine" - symbols of wealth - indicates that the rich will do just fine

7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Why is the fourth horse pale? Because it’s colourless appearance symbolises death. John says the rider who sat on this horse "was Death, and Hades followed close behind. They were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." One quarter of the earth's population - well over a billion people - will die as a result of World War III. That Hades (hell) follows Death shows that those slain are unbelievers, for upon death believers do not go to Hades but straight to the Saviour’s side.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

When the fifth seal is opened, John sees "under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained." Shortly after the beginning of the Tribulation there will be a great "soul harvest" in which millions will come to faith in Christ, many as a result of the preaching of the 144 000 witnesses described in Revelation 7. Most of these Tribulation saints will be killed by the forces of Antichrist. These martyred souls will cry out for God to avenge their deaths, but they will be told to "rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brothers who were to killed as they were was completed." Imagine! Despite the desperate evil of the Antichrist, despite the horrors of the war and famine and pestilence and death, God is still so much in control of events that even the number of believing martyrs has been fixed by divine decree. Astonishing!

12 I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

The first four seals described judgements largely inflicted by man; the sixth seal describes a judgement clearly supernatural in origin. John tells of an earthquake so massive that "every mountain and island was removed from its place." Probably he also has in mind enormous volcanic activity, for he says "the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red." Particulate matter scattered in the atmosphere after a volcanic eruption has often turned the sky black and made the moon seem to turn red. John also foresaw meteorites crashing into the earth (v. 13).

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face 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 can stand?"

The people of earth will recognize these phenomena as coming from the hand of God, for they are said to cry out to the mountains where they take cover, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"