Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Rev 6:1 and following. First of all, let us remember that it must be understood that from here, the opening of the seven seals covers the next fifteen chapters of the book. But, as chapter 6 alone interprets six of the seven seals, it is obvious that each of them was given little space. The seventh seal is another key that makes it possible to understand the whole book. For the world, the Apocalypse represents only an enigmatic, mystical, and death-oriented message. To fully understand the first seal of Revelation 6:2, one must accept an essential fact. And the term apocalypse simply means “revelation.” Let’s now see what needs to be revealed.
The first seal – the false Christ: “I looked, when the lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living beings saying as if in a voice of thunder: Come. I looked, and behold, appeared a white horse. He who mounted it had an arch; a crown was given to him, and he set out victorious and to overcome. But the Bible interprets itself. We must let Christ explain the opening of the seals! No one else has the authority to say what God has given christ – and what He has allowed Him to reveal! Christ gives the interpretation Christ gives the explanation of the white horse. His disciples had asked Him, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world?” (Mat 24. 3). He responds to His disciples by making a list for them, according to a sequence and sequential order of the events and tendencies that will precede the end of this age – and consequently His return. Christ warns that many -not a few -will be deceived by those who claim to represent Him. We can do the same: Christ is “the same yesterday, today, and eternally” (Heb 3:8). What He revealed to His disciples at that time is just as true for us today! And according to prophecies, these events will happen in our time. So, if the disciples of the first century wanted to know their answer to Matthew 24:3, wouldn’t the disciples of today want, a fortiori, to understand frankly the things that will affect their lives?
At the opening of the second seal came out a red horse: “When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living being saying: Come. And he took out another horse, redheaded. He who mounted it received the power to take the peace of the earth, so that men might slaughter one another; and a great sword was given to him.” As with Christ in Revelation 19, here the sword is depicted as an instrument of wars and killings. Here, then, the rider and his horse “take away the peace of the earth.” The opposite of peace is war, and when peace is taken away, all that remains is war. This depicts the “[rumors] of wars and rumors of wars” that Christ alluded to in Matthew 24.6.
At the opening of the third seal appeared a black horse, a symbol of famine: “When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living being saying: Come. I looked, and behold, appeared a black horse. Whoever mounted it held a scale in his hand. And I heard in the midst of the four living beings a voice saying: One measure of wheat for one denier, and three measures of barley for one denier; but do no harm to oil and wine.” This depicts an extreme global famine, surpassing anything the world has ever known. This terrible condition will spread over the whole earth, in an exceptional way. Today famine is worse than we imagine.
The opening of the fourth seal reveals a pale horse representing the plague or epidemics: “When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being who said: Come. I looked, and behold, appeared a horse of a pale color. The one who mounted it was called death, and the sojourn of the dead accompanied it. Power was given to them over a quarter of the earth, to make men perish by the sword, by famine, by mortality, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” This horse is depicted as being pale in color because He is sick. It obviously depicts the disease – the plague! Invariably, war brings famine – and malnutrition ensues disease. For new diseases, or old ones that are getting worse, seem to manifest themselves almost every day. The death rate from the disease, per day around the world, is staggering: more than a quarter of a million people die from it.
The opening of the fifth seal does not reveal a horse, but rather gives a brief glimpse of the impending advent of history’s worst epoch of global chaos (Mat 24:21) – the Great Tribulation (or Distress). Several prophecies, in both the Old and New Testaments, explain and describe this time. This series of world events will be truly immeasurable. Obviously, the most atrocious are the wars, famines and epidemics that are yet to come. These conditions will intensify before the arrival of the Great Tribulation. And again, after Christ described the first four seals, and the earthquakes, He concluded with these words: “All this will be only the beginning of pains” (Mat 24:8). It won’t be the end yet. After that comes the Great Tribulation. Here is what Christ said to His disciples about what must happen next: “Then you will be delivered to torment, and you will be made to die; and you will be hated by all nations, for my name” (Mat 24:9).
“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 because of the testimony they had given. They shouted in a loud voice, saying, “Until when, holy and true Master, are you slow to judge, and to take revenge for our blood on the inhabitants of the earth? A white robe was given to each of them. This will take place during the Great Tribulation. All “lukewarm” Christians will have to suffer this last martyrdom (Rev 3:14-22). These “souls” (the saints already dead) must “stand in rest” (remain “asleep” in their graves – Eph 5:14; 1 Cor 11:30) until others come to join them in this last martyrdom. The blood of these “souls,” waiting to be avenged, corresponds to the blood of Abel (his life – note Lev 17:14) who cries out from the earth to God (Gen 4:10). Since blood and death do not speak (Ps 115:17; Ec 9:5, 10), the meaning is symbolic. The Tribulation also includes the invasion and captivity of the “Ten Lost Tribes” of the modern descendants of Israel, and Judah (the modern nation of Israel).
Now we come to the sixth seal – the celestial, or astronomical, signs: “I looked, when he opened the sixth seal; and there was a great earthquake, the sun became black like a sack of horsehair, the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell on the earth, as when a fig tree shaken by a strong wind casts its green figs” (Rev 6:12-13). How do we know that the heavenly signs will come immediately after the Great Tribulation? Here are Christ’s words: “Immediately after these days of distress, the sun will darken, the moon will no longer give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken” (Mat 24:29). This is an almost word-for-word description of Revelation 6:12-13. Once again Christ interpreted, for us, the sixth seal and its synchronism. The phrase “immediately after these days of distress” removes any doubt as to the time of the appearance of the celestial signs. But a “great earthquake” occurs after the fifth seal, at the opening of the sixth seal.
Indeed, the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord are two quite different and distinct events: The celestial signs occur between the Great Tribulation, which precedes them, and the day of the Lord, which succeeds them. The religious leaders of this world are almost completely unaware of how these three great events that will shake the earth will come – and in what order they will appear. Most believe they are identical – but they are not. The Great Tribulation will take place first. “Immediately after these days of distress,” christ says, “come the heavenly signs. These signs introduce the day of the Lord (divine wrath), which is a separate event.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Opening of the first six seals:
- War
Gen 14:2 they sometimes went to war on Bera, king of Sodom, on Birscha, king of Gomorrah, on Sshineab, king of Adma, on Shemesber, king of Tseboïm, and on the king of Béla, who is Tsoar. Ps 27:3 If an army were to stand against me, My heart would have no fear; If a war were to be waged against me, I would still be full of confidence. Mt 24:6 You will hear about wars and rumors of wars: be careful not to be disturbed, for these things must happen. But it won’t be the end yet. Rev 6:4 And he took out another horse, redhead. He who mounted it received the power to take the peace of the earth, so that men might slaughter one another; and a great sword was given to him.
- Divine scales
Pr 16.2 All the ways of man are pure in his eyes; But the one who weighs the spirits is the Eternal. Esa 40:12 Who measured the waters in the palm of his hand, took the dimensions of the heavens with his palm, and collected the dust from the earth in a third of measure? Who weighed the mountains to the hook, And the hills to the scale? Dn 5:27 Weighing: You have been weighed in the balance, and you have been found light. Rev 6:5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living being saying, Come. I looked, and behold, appeared a black horse. Whoever mounted it held a scale in his hand.
- Immortality
Luke 20:36 For they will no longer be able to die, because they will be like angels, and they will be sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. John 11:26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that? 1 Cor 15:53 For this corruptible body must be incorruptible, and this mortal body must be immortal. 1 Thess 4:17 Then we the living, who will have remained, will all be together raptured with them on clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
- Day of the Lord, called the last or great day
Jn 12:48 He who rejects me and does not receive my words has his judge; the word I have announced will judge him on the last day. Rom 2:5 But by your hardening and by your unrepentant heart, you amasse a treasure of anger for the day of wrath and the manifestation of God’s just judgment, Hb 10:25 Let us not abandon our assembly, as is the custom of a few; but exhort each other, all the more so as you see the day approaching. Jude 6 whom he reserved for the judgment of the great day, eternally chained by darkness, the angels who have not kept their dignity, but who have abandoned their own home; Rev 6:17 for the great day of his wrath has come, and who can subsist?
From all of the above, we note the severity of God’s judgments, because we do not know how to ascend (by faith) into heaven. Hearing the perfect holiness of God (Rev. 4:8-11) celebrated, contemplating in the Lamb slain both divine love and the contempt for that love by the rebellious man, we might understand how just, deserved, necessary judgment is. And we would also check that nothing is the result of chance. God has control over everything that happens on earth. Not only are His ways in judgment described in advance in this symbolic book (Ap 5:1-5), but each occurs at the precise moment He has decreed, when the seal is broken by the Lamb. The opening of the first four seals brings out as many riders. They represent respectively the territorial conquest, the civil war, the famine, the deadly calamities that will follow one another on earth (Ez 14:21-22). When the 5th seal is broken, a company of martyrs appears, imploring the sovereign God to do them justice. And the 6th seal is like the answer to their cry. It suggests a terrible revolution; all established authorities are overthrown. How strangely these words sound together: “the wrath of the Lamb” (Ps 2:10-12). The purpose of a Christian is to stand before Christ, at His return, to reign with Him, after the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the interval before the seventh seal. »
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.