As we have already seen in this study on Revelation the resounding message of which is God is in control despite the fact that there are such cataclysmic things going on around everywhere. These seals (seven in number) can be directly related to the Olivet Discourse given by Jesus Himself. As we have also already seen these seals, vials and judgments cannot take place with those who are already born again today. God’s wrath has not been appointed to believers. The picture we have seen in the last two chapters (Chapter 4 and 5) paint a picture of God’s people in heaven. The remaining remnant those who were as Jesus said “lukewarm” will remain until the Glorious Appearing. Should you be reading this during these intense judgments God is trying to get your attention. Pay heed to His Voice, and don’t harden your heart. Repent of yours sins and turn to Him so that you can enter into a relationship with Christ. These judgments get worse as we will see throughout this book.
If you are in a relationship with Jesus during this period it will not be easy. The judgments get worse, but rest assured God is under control. You may be wondering why I am writing like this today but it is because of the seriousness of these judgments. These judgments are very serious and anyone to come to them without such an attitude of seriousness is a plain fool. These judgments are for real they are going to take place, but at the same time God is in control.
You don’t have to fear these judgments if you are a believer, if you are living during these times (and you are reading this) you will be going through some intense stuff in the up and coming years, but it will all end you can rest assured. You will see the day when the earth will groan and moan, and then Jesus will appear and every tear will be wiped from every eye by the Lord Himself! The problem is that we come to these judgments with such an attitude of fear for most believers that we fail to see that God is absolutely in control of it all. He is the One after all orchestrating this whole affair. With that said with the Lord is on the Throne in Revelation 4&5, we have now entered the Tribulation which will include all the major events that you hear regularly about in newspapers, etc… the Descretation of the Temple Mount, Armageddon, the treaty with Israel and the Glorious Appearing. All of these events are taking place to get people’s attention to turn them from self and turn them towards God. I believe that if you are living in these times there will be no doubt as there is today right now as I write this sermon, absolutely no doubt that there is a God in heaven and we can accept His Son into our hearts, be born again by His Spirit and have eternal life in His Son.
With that said today we will take a look at the first four seals, and then in the next two days we will look at the remaining three. The first four seals are false peace, war, famine, and death.
Revelation 6:1-2, “As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of seven seals on the scroll. The one of the four living beings called out with a voice that sounded like thunder, “Come!” I looked up and saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.”
The focus has shifted here from praise to judgment. The people depictated in Revelation 4&5 praising God are now silent, for the judgment has begun. The scene shifts from heaven to earth which will be the focus of events through the return of Christ in Chapter 19 and the establishment of His earthly kingdom in Chapter 20. <
Having received from His Father the title deed to earth (5:7) the Lamb (the Lord Jesus Christ) broke the first of the seven seals. Immediately John heard one of the four living creatures (cherubim; an exalted order of angels-Ezek10:15) saying with a powerful, shattering voice of thunder, “Come.” In response to the angelic summons, a white horse came forth bearing its rider. The first four seals involve horses and riders. Horses in Scripture are associated with triumph, majesty, power and conquest (
That the rider had a bow but no arrows, and that he was honored with a crown that these judgments was freely given to him, reveals that his conquering will involve bloodless victories. The word here used for crown is stephanos not diadema. Stephanos is used of a winners crown while diadema is used of the many crown’s Christ will wear upon His Glorious appearing. This rider is no real King but a crown from the world for his triumphant achievements leading to world peace. He will not conquer by military force but by cunning and deceit (2 Thess 2:9-11). His victory will have the appearance of peace, but it will not be lasting (Daniel 9:24
It is certain that this man (the Antichrist) will have the appearance of being suave, but it will really be deceptive. This suaveness will cause many to be lead astray by the events leading up to this time in history. Before this can happen though and since Chapters 4 and 5 give strong indications that believers are in heaven (before the Rapture) and that this event opens the world stage for this man (Antichrist) to appear on the scene granting this false peace. Beware of those dear friends who come in the name of peace and preach peace, because their will be no world peace until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Eternal Kingdom here on earth. The Antichrist will promise a golden age of peace and prosperity but it will only be temporary and not lasting. He will offer peace, but all these judgments will be coming on after another given further evidence that he (antichrist) is not in control but the Lamb who sits upon the Throne is in charge.
Revelation 6:3-4, “When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!” And another horse appeared a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to remove peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.”
As the Lamb broke the second seal John heard the second living creature summoning the second horseman saying, “Come.” Immediately a red horseman went out. Red , the color of fire and blood depicts war. God’s judgment descends resulting in the false peace led by the Antichrist dissolving in a blood holocaust. John’s first notes concerning the rider that was given meaning that the Lamb handed this to the rider. God is in control even in the midst’s of whatever you are going on. It is given to Him power and majesty not to the actual rider itself. Mighty Sword this is what was given to him. Machaira (sword) refers to the short, stabbing sword a Roman soldier carried into battle. It was also a weapon used by assassins. The Antichrist’s false peace, then will dissolve in a maelstrom of battle, assassination, rebellion, revolt, and massacre.
This so called man of peace will have to turn away from being a man of peace and will lead the fight against believers using every means in his arsenal to do so to wage war not only against the people of God, but also those who resist his evil regime. The Anti-Christ will be just as masterful with ushering in a false peace as he will in executing war. Antichrist’s setting up of the abomination of desolation (Daniel <12:11) and Matthew 24:15) will touch of a massive conflict described in detail in Daniel 11:36<
As the head of the western powers during this time, the AntiChrist will appear on the scene as we have already seen as a champion of peace. More than likely the world will be in shambles at this point, looking for a confident leader but what they are looking for will only lead them to destruction. Their desire for “peace” will lead to nothing but destruction for there souls if they decide to follow the man they have chosen to lead them. This man will make a treaty with
Revelation 6:5-6, “When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” And I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And a voice from among the four living being said, “A loaf of wheat bread of three loaves of barely for a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive and wine.”
The third seal will be a seal of famine. As the Lamb broke the third seal the mighty voice of the third living being heralded the coming of the third horse and rider. Johns’ use of the word behold reveals how startled and shocked he was by the rider’s ominous appearance. The color black is associated with famine in Lamentations 5:10(KJV) Famine is a logical step for a world torn by worldwide war. Jesus also predicated this in Matthew 24:7, “The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.” God has used famines as a means of judgment in the past (Lev 26:26; Deu 32:23; 2 Kings 8:1; Psalm 105:16; Isaiah 3:1; Jeremiah 16:4; Ezek 4:16-17; 5:16; 14:13; Hag 1:11), but this will be by far the most devastating famine in all of human history. <
The pair of scales the rider carried in his hand pictures the rationing that will result from the famine. Those countries torn by war during WWI, WWII and other recent wars can attest to this fact that with war comes food shortages and given the use of words within these verse here the food supply will not be great enough to provide for all, resulting in the four seal death. The four living creates were stationed around the throne (4:6) and since that is so it is likely the voice of God, the One sitting on the throne (4:2-3). God also speaks in connection with the firth seal (6:11) and is speaking here as a reminder that the famine is a direct judgment from Him.
A loaf of wheat bread of three loaves of barely for a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive and wine.”
Three loaves of barely is barely enough food for one person let alone one family. This judgment will be so severe that most people will die as a result of this seal because they don’t have any food. In light of these extreme conditions God cautions people to don’t waste the olive and wine. Olive oil and wine are used in the preparation and cooking of meals as well as in the purification of water will need to be carefully protected during this time. A deceptive peace followed by worldwide wars and a resultant devastating worldwide global famine will combine to escalate the universal chaos. All this will take place during the first half of the Tribulation, while the worst will be yet to come.
Revelation 6:7-8, “And when the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, “Come!” And I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green like a corpse. And Death was the name of its rider, who was followed around by the Grave. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.”
The fourth seal in the vision follows the pattern of the first thee. The Lamb broke the seal and the fourth living being summoned the fourth horse and its rider. John describes the final horse as pale green like a corpse. Chloros which can be translated from the Greek as ashen are where we get the English words “Chlorophyll” and “chlorine”, which refers to a sickly, pale, yellow-green color. It describes green vegetation in its only other New Testament uses (8:7; 9:4; Mark 6:39. The horse’s color vividly portrays the pale-green pallor of death characteristic of the decomposition of a corpse. Fittingly the rider ominous name Death, which is the inevitable consequence of war and famine. The very fact that death was followed around the Grave, the grave becomes the grave digger for Death victims. Death and Grave are also paired in and vs.14.
The extent of the death and destruction wrought by war and famine is then quantified; authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals. At the world’s present state that one-fourth would die would mean 1.5 billion people would be whipped out by this very seal itself. The first three elements sword, famine, disease (pestilence) are often linked in Scripture (1 Chron 21; 2nd Chron 20:9; Jeremiah 14:12; 24:10; 44:13; Ezek 6:11and all four elements appear in Ezekiel <14:12 -21.
We have already examined the sword (war) and famine in connection with the second and third seals; the four seal exacerbates these conditions. Disease or pestilence translates thanatos, the same word translated “Death” earlier in Vs.8. Here it may primarily refer to disease as the cause of death (1:14;23;2:23; 18:8) but is broad enough to encompass natural disasters such as the earthquakes predicted by Jesus (Matthew 24:7), floods, and volcanic eruptions.
With first glance the inclusion of wild beasts with war, famine and disease seems puzzling since most of the dangerous animals to man are either in solitary parts of the world or existent. It may be surprising to you that the rat is one of the most dangerous animals to man in the history of mankind. Rats cause the Black death a fourteenth century outbreak of bubonic plague that wiped out one-fourth to one-third of
If this seems bad to you it gets worse still. These seals are to get the attention of mankind to turn away from self and enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. The primary motivation of these seals is to show us that we can be in a relationship with Jesus Christ and to expose the world’s weakness by the denial of God’s sovereignty even in the midst’s of the chaos going on in today’s world with famines, and wars, and other things. God is still in control in every circumstance He is in control! Far worse to come is the remainder of the seals, trumpets and the bowls. During this time sinners who have not yet entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ will know that “It is a great and terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31
If you aren’t 100% sure that you will go to heaven to be with Jesus I invited you to read the follow that was written just for you.
Jesus died for your sins my dear friend reading this according to the age old prophecies concerning Himself throughout the Old Testament, from the Books of the Law to the last chapter of Malachi. The very New Testament opens records the Ancestry of Christ from the Old Testament! Jesus death on the Cross paid for your sins-He was crucified, buried, risen and Ascended to the right hand of the Father where He sits now on the Throne. It is only by this gift that we can have salvation in His Son. You don’t have to fear eternal wrath, my friend reading this, because God has chosen you to hear His precious Word. Hear His voice calling to you today to come into a relationship with His Son. All you must do to be born again is to turn away from your sins, which is repentance and believe, and accept what His Son Jesus Christ did on the Cross to pay for your sins.
If you did that today Praise God! and if you didn’t Praise God anyway. He is deserving of all Praise and glory. If you would like to talk please email me at david@servantsofgrace.net and I will respond to your email in a prompt fashion. I would love to hear your testimonies of what God is doing or if God touched you by his grace through the words written here. I look forward to hearing from you dear friend.
May our Lord bless you this day and everyday!
In His Arms,
Pastor David
