Revelation 6:1-17 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Revelation 6:1-17. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Revelation 6:1-2 (NIV)
1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures 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.
On verses 1-2: Jesus, referred to here as the Lamb, opens the first of the seven seals, which causes a rider on a white horse to appear. This rider on a white horse is wearing a crown and holding a bow. While Jesus Himself will later appear on a white horse (Revelation 19:11), according to many scholars, this particular rider on this particular white horse is not Jesus but the anti-Christ, a powerful figure bent on conquering everything he sees.
What can we learn from this? In the end times, an anti-Christ, also known as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), will appear and deceive many into following him. We will discuss the anti-Christ in more detail as we go further along in Revelation.
Revelation 6:3-4 (NIV)
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.
On verses 3-4: When the second seal is opened, a rider on a fiery red horse holding a large sword appears. The role of this rider on a red horse is to cause war on the earth. As verse 4 says, he “was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other” (v4).
Revelation 6:5-6 (NIV)
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 of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
On verses 5-6: When the third seal is opened, a rider on a black horse holding a pair of scales appears. The role of this rider on a black horse is to cause famine. To describe the severity of the famine, verse 6 contains an announcement that a whole day’s wages could only buy a quart of wheat (which is what the rich would eat) or three quarts of barley (which is what the poor would eat).
Revelation 6:7-8 (NIV)
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 sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
On verses 7-8: When the fourth seal is opened, a rider on a pale horse appears. This rider’s name is Death, with hell (or Hades) following closely behind him. The role of this rider is to cause further destruction through violence, famine, plague and incidents with wild animals.
Revelation 6:9-11 (NIV)
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.
On verses 9-11: When the fifth seal is opened, John sees under an altar the souls of Christian martyrs (“those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained” – v9). They call out loudly for God to avenge their blood. What is heaven’s response? Each martyr is given a white robe and told to wait until a pre-ordained number of Christians have been martyred.
Revelation 6:12-14 (NIV)
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.
On verses 12-14: When the sixth seal is opened, all of creation is upended.
Revelation 6:15-17 (NIV)
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?”
On verses 15-17: In the face of such incredible destruction and suffering, everyone on earth, regardless of their station in life, goes into hiding. They call for the rocks to fall on them so as to hide from the face of God and the wrath of the Lamb.
What can we learn from all this?
First, you may be wondering, “If John is writing down ‘what will take place in the future’ (Revelation 1:19), when exactly will all this happen?” We do not know for sure. Some scholars suggest that the destruction described in Revelation 6 has already started to happen, even as far back as when Revelation was first written in first century A.D., and will continue to gradually unfold. Others believe that Revelation 6 is describing the destruction that will take place at the end of time. Whatever the case may be, the book of Revelation gives us the assurance that those who place their trust in Jesus Christ will ultimately be delivered and kept safe from destruction.
Second, I am struck by how Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 so closely parallel the events taking place in Revelation 6 and the order in which they take place. For example:
· When the first seal is broken, according to some scholars, the one who appears is the anti-Christ who comes to deceive many into following him. In Matthew 24, when Jesus is asked “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”, Jesus’ first words are about those coming to deceive: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.’ (Matthew 24:4-5)
· When the second seal is broken, what appears is a rider on a red horse ready to make war. In Matthew 24, Jesus’ next words are about war:
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…
· When the third seal is broken, what appears is a rider on a black horse ready to bring famine. In Matthew 24, Jesus’ next words are about famine:
7 …There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
· When the fourth seal is broken, what appears is a rider on a pale horse ready to bring even more death and destruction. Continuing with the theme of death and destruction, when the fifth seal is broken, the souls of Christian martyrs cry out for their deaths to be avenged. In Matthew 24, Jesus’ next words are about Christians being martyred:
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
· When the sixth seal is broken, there is a great earthquake, the sun turns black, the moon turns blood red, the stars fall, and the sky recedes like a scroll. In Matthew 24, after mentioning earthquakes in verse 7, Jesus goes on to say in verse 29,
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
· Revelation 6:15-17 then speaks of how every person is terrified and goes into hiding. In Matthew 24, Jesus expresses a similar sentiment:
19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now–and never to be equaled again.
In other words, so much of what John is seeing in Revelation 6 parallels what Jesus already talked about in Matthew 24. The fact that Jesus goes out of His way to alert us about these events both when He was on earth (as recorded in Matthew 24) and when He is in heaven (speaking to John through this vision recorded in Revelation) means that we need to take seriously what Jesus says. Though the book of Revelation may be hard to understand, may the Holy Spirit give us insight into these things so that we may live as wisely and effectively as possible.
Third, as chaotic and terrible as the destruction is in Revelation 6, God remains in control. In fact, none of these things would happen without Jesus opening the seals and allowing them to happen. In the end, God may allow terrible destruction and suffering for a time, but if you hang onto faith in Jesus, you will find that it was all part of a much greater story that God is writing, a story that leads us to stand amazed at how awesome God is.
Father, thank You for showing us that the best thing we can do in every situation is to hang onto Jesus. We can’t control what will happen tomorrow, but thank You that if we hang onto Jesus, we will always be safe in the end. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
