Revelation Chapter 6
Vs. 1 - 8: SEAL 1, 2 & 3
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
First Baptist Church of Tawas City
www.tawasbaptist.org
Key Verse; Revelation 1:19
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”
Revelation Chapter 1: Things you have seen,
Revelation Chapter 2 & 3: The things which are,
Revelation Chapters 4 – 22: The things which shall be hereafter.
Chapter 2 & 3 – The Things that Are.
Chapter 1 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Glorified One.
Chapter 2&3 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Head over the Church.
Chapter 4-22 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Triumphant One.
We will see the Lords striking message to the seven churches of Asia.
They are applicable to the churches of today.
Before the vision of the Father in Heaven in Revelation Chapter 4, we have the vision and words of the Son, Jesus Christ in Chapters 1 – 3.
We must know the Son before we can know the Father. He is the only way to God.
SEALS 1, 2 & 3
THE FIRST SEAL
1a – And I (John) saw the Lamb opened one of the Seals – Referring to the Crucified, risen Christ, proven by the use of the word ‘Lamb’.
1b – and I (John) heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four Living Creatures saying, Come and see – This opening of the Seals will happen after the Rapture of the church. We know this because the Seals usher in the beginning of Tribulation.
2a – And I (John) saw, and behold a white horse – This is symbolic. A horse in the scriptures always refers to power, or authority. When a King was victorious during times of war he would ride into town on a great steed, and during times of peace he would ride a colt. This white horse proclaims the Antichrist presenting himself to the world as a leader of peace because the horse is white and himself as having control or authority of it. He is presenting himself as a ‘prince of peace’, trying to take the title of Jesus Christ who is the true Prince of Peace.
2b – And he who sat on him had a bow – The scriptures mention a bow, but no arrows. Symbolizing that this leader of power will become victor with words of peace, while preparing for war, this is symbolized by him already having a bow.
2c – and a crown was given to him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer – The ‘crown’ represents that he will be victorious, and the scripture says it ‘was given to him’. Which means no force was used to obtain his victories. Authority was given to him. This is done by words of peace, but we remember the bow in his hand as he prepares to take victories by force.
So the first Seal releases the antichrist to come onto the scene at the beginning of the Tribulation.
This was announced by the First Living Creature.
THE SECOND SEAL
3 – And when He (Christ) had opened the Second Seal, I (John) heard the second Living Creature say, Come and see – As we see from the scriptures, all the events that are taking place on earth are first decided and put into motion by Christ in Heaven. He is in FULL control of the events on earth. Nothing can take place without His allowing it. We see this in Job, when Satan could do nothing to Job until God allowed, and then Satan could only do what God allowed him to do. We also see this in the life of Jesus when Pilate told Jesus, “Don’t you know I have authority over your death?” And Jesus answered, “You can do nothing to me that my Father in Heaven doesn’t allow.”
4a – And there went out another horse that was red – The red horse represents war, which takes place after the peace.
4b – And power was given to him (The Antichrist) who sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword – We see the antichrist now riding a horse of war instead of the horse of peace. The power that was given to him (the crown) the authority he will use to cause war (they should kill on another) and take the peace away. This killing (war) proclaims the fact that more people will be killed during the time of the great tribulation that at any other time frame in history. The great sword that was given to him could be symbolic of anything from a nuclear weapon to chemical or biological warheads…whatever the great sword is it will cause a countless loss of lives.
So the Second Seal releases the antichrist to turn from peace which brings him power and authority, to war which will destroy and kill millions if not more.
This was announced by the Second Living Creature.
5a – And when He (Christ) had opened the third Seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see, and I (John) beheld, and lo a black horse – The third Seal Christ opens ushers in the beginning of famine, which always follows war and destruction. Famine here is represented by the black horse.
5b – And he who sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand – This represents the scarcity of food, the scales show how portions will have to be divided because there is so little, such as in the days of food rations and stamps during World War 2.
6a – And I (John) heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius – The world that rejected Christ is now in judgment. Because they did not follow the Cross, they are left behind to suffer the consequences of their decision. These verses are describing the time of a great scarcity of food, worldwide famine and the controlling of the food by this world-ruling authority and empire that will set up the mark and worship of the beast, whereas, one will not be able to buy or sell unless he has this mark of identification. A measure (choinix in literal) is about a liter. A denarius is worth about an average day’s wage. Right now in the USA that is equal to about $41.20.
6b – and see you hurt not the oil and the wine – (Hurt in the literal) to be unjust, i.e. (actively) do wrong (morally, socially or physically):
The oil represents the work of the Holy Spirit during tribulation and the wine represents those who accepted the Blood of Jesus.
Thos who accept Jesus during the time of the tribulation are known as tribulation saints.
So the Third Seal releases the antichrist to control the limited food supply and distribution of that food to where he wishes. This is shown by him holding the scale.
This was announced by a voice from among the four Living Creatures.
THE FOURTH SEAL
7/8a – And when He (Christ) had opened the fourth Seal, I (John) heard the fourth living creature say, Come and see, and I (John) looked, and behold a pale (lit. pale green) horse – This pale horse represents the death that follows famine.
8b – And his name that sat on him was Death, and Sheol followed with him – This signifies that all who died went to Sheol. This means they were not Tribulation Saints, because if you have accepted Jesus Christ, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. If a tribulation Saint dies, he would go to be with Jesus, not Sheol.
8c – And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth – They were given the authority to destroy ¼ of the earths population (what was left after war and starvation) and they had authority to kill with more war, starvation, death and the animals of the earth.
So the Fourth Seal releases the antichrist and his followers to destroy ¼ of what’s left of the population of the earth.
This was announced by the Fourth Living Creature.
