(Zec 5:5-11) Spiritual wickedness in Israel traced to Babylon and the judgment of Babylon (or
“spiritual Babylon”) foretold – elaborated on in Revelation 17, 18.
(Zec 6:1-8) God's judgment on the nations, possibly parallel to Revelation 6 or referring to the final judgment when Christ himself makes war on the nations.
In Zechariah the scroll is described like this:
This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth…
(Zechariah 5:3)
Thus, when you review the Zechariah context above it seems likely that the scroll in Revelation 5 is the same scroll, or at the very least sets a precedent for interpreting the scroll in Revelation as being related to judgment.
Now let’s look at the four living creatures. The tribulation upon the earth begins in Revelation 6:1 as the first of the seals is opened and John hears one of the four living creatures saying “Come and
see”. Immediately after that we see a white horse, and a rider on that horse with a crown and a
bow.
The opening of each of the first four seals is introduced in turn by each of the four living creatures, and immediately following each introduction we see a horse of a different colour, and a rider on the horse. What are the horses? Who are the riders? Like most of the symbols in prophecy it’s good to
look at whether they’ve been used anywhere else in the bible; and if so what significance they had
there. Although there are differences, in Zechariah we see an account that has definite parallels.
Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses—strong steeds. Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What
are these, my lord?” And the angel answered and said to me, “These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. The one with the black horses is going to P a g e 40
the north country, the white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward the south
country.”
(Zechariah 6:1-6)
In this case the horses are stated in the plural, as multiple horses pulling each chariot (rather than single horses with riders on their back). Either way, they each carry a single occupant (which is clear in that the passage says that “the one with the black horses is going to the north country”, and so forth for each of the other chariots and their horses).
Who are the four occupants? The passage clearly states that they are “four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth”. Let’s compare this to Revelation 4 where we are introduced to the four living creatures as follows.
…and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within…
(Revelation 4:6-8)
The four living creatures are “before the throne of God”; they are clearly cherubim, seraphim or the like – presumably angels of particular significance. The similarity of concept between the “four spirits of heaven” who go out from before the Lord in Zechariah and the four living creatures who are
before the Lord in Revelation suggests a strong likelihood that both passages speak of the same four spirits, though not necessarily in the same circumstances since there are variations in the two
situations.
But, since the four spirits of heaven are the occupants of the four horse drawn chariots of Zechariah, an important insight we can gain is that they may also be the four horsemen of Revelation 6.
Not just tour guides, but the horsemen themselves. And therefore not just representing things that
happen on the earth, but being the very spiritual powers sent forth to bring them to pass. This is
why, despite the troubles around the opening of the first six seals as being of man’s making, there also appears to be an element by which God brings them forth in their time.
Now let’s look at the opening of each of the seals in turn:
THE FIRST SEAL – THE WHITE HORSE
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures
saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
(Revelation 6:1-2)
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The picture here is of a king riding his white horse, holding a weapon of war in his hand and setting forth on a war of conquest. Given the scope of Revelation itself this is probably figurative of the wars that bring the empire of AntiChrist to fullness of power.
In Jesus’ summary of End Times events, in Matthew 24, he starts with a statement that parallels the four horsemen that go forth in Revelation 6. He says:
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
(Matthew 24:7)
…and, in terms of showing how parallel this is to the four horsemen, Jesus carries on in the passage to speak of the persecution of the saints, just as the Revelation 6 passage does.
So, like Revelation 6:2 we see that Jesus starts his account of end times with nation warring against nation. But which nations, and where? Does the bible say? Probably.
In Daniel 11 from verse 40 there is a broad summary of the wars and conquests of The Antichrist
during what it calls “the time of the end”.
You can read more about it later but, understanding from historical fulfillments of the passage up to about verse 30 something that “the king of the North” represents a northern neighbor of Israel
(probably Syria or a wider region including Syria), and that “the king of the South” definitely refers to Egypt (these powers being to the north and south of Israel), you’ll discover that the verse speaks
reasonably clearly of the countries and areas involved in a large war around the time of the end. It clearly speaks of:
War in the Middle East and parts of North Africa
Large wider spreading wars to the north and east of the region which, if extensive in reach,
may be as far afield as Russia and China respectively.
This is about as much detail as we can clearly dig out of it, but the key point to take from the
opening of the first seal is that the white horse in Revelation 6, when read in combination with other prophetic passages, seems to clearly portray great wars of conquest at the beginning of the
tribulation.
Perhaps the two most comparable pieces of history to what can be expected are:
The Napoleonic wars of the early 1800’s, through which Napoleon rapidly established French
hegemony over most of mainland Europe (with himself as the Emperor).
Hitler’s attempt to establish a thousand year Reich of Aryan ascendancy over the world. This
was clearly an Anti-Christ perversion of the promised millennial kingdom of Messiah.
THE SECOND SEAL – THE RED HORSE
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When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
(Revelation 6:3-4)
In Revelation 6:4 the horseman on the fiery red horse is given power to remove peace from the
earth, perhaps suggesting the spreading of this conflict to a wider war (perhaps again parallel to
parts of Daniel 11), though alternatively it could refer to anarchy, violence, civil wars and unrest within nations.
THE THIRD SEAL – THE BLACK HORSE
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
(Revelation 6:5-6)
Here we see the wheat for a day’s bread, or the barley for a days horsefeed, costing a day’s wages, and yet the oil and wine are not harmed.
With the way the price of food has been going up in recent years many of us find it increasingly easy to imagine a day’s supply of food costing a day’s wages. Aspects of the black horse have actually
been building up for some time. We’ve all grown up with an awareness of the horror of famines and
starvation in the world; especially within Africa, usually as a result of either droughts or war. So, just as with the red horse, it’s really not hard to see how in a time of conflict and other stresses on the world, the black horse of famine might come forth at a global scale.
One mystery in this passage is why it says “do not harm the oil and the wine”. In scripture oil often refers to the Holy Spirit, whilst God’s kingdom is often referred to in the metaphor of a vineyard, in which case the wine would be the ultimate output of that vineyard – the redeemed. If this is what
it’s alluding to it might speak of God protecting his people from starvation. Or, if the reference is to luxury items (represented by oil and wine), it could be more figurative of the rich still dining well and drinking wine, even whilst the poor are struggling to survive. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time in history that such a pattern has played out. Well, that’s happening now, it might just get worse.
THE FOURTH SEAL – THE BAY HORSE
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
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(Revelation 6:7-8)
This appears to be the culmination and coming together of the previous calamities, but with the
additional elements of death by the beasts of the earth. This last aspect suggests quite a state of disorder since, in his current state, mankind is in a good position to ward off wild animals.
THE FIFTH SEAL – THE PERSECUTION OF THE SAINTS
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
(Revelation 6:9-11)
The persecution of the saints is brought into focus as we view, now in heaven, those saints who
have been killed upon the earth.
Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 13:7 both make it clear that this final great persecution of God’s people is orchestrated by the Antichrist. The timing is not absolutely clear but it seems from the flow of Daniel 7, Revelation 6, Matthew 24 and Revelation 13 that this persecution will probably arise at some
point after the great wars that bring the beast and / or Antichrist himself to power.
THE SIXTH SEAL – THE HEAVENS AND EARTH SHAKEN
In Revelation 6:12-14 God shakes the heavens and the earth and John sees that “every mountain
and island was moved out of its place”. This appears to be a very serious and late stage of things
deep into the tribulation, especially given that parallel events are seen in Revelation 16:18,20.
Further indications of this timing come from the fact that the preceding verse of Revelation 6:12
parallels the prophecy of Joel which says:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
(Joel 2:31)
Nevertheless the timing of events towards the end of chapter 6 are hard to pin down with complete
certainty. One seal remains unopened at the end of Revelation 6, and out of this seal comes the
trumpet and vial judgments. How long is the time assigned to the last seal? Classic evangelical
teaching has been that the first six represent the first half of the tribulation and that the last seal represents the second half of the tribulation. This division largely stems from the 1260 days
mentioned in Revelation 11:3 as the period of God’s two witnesses. It’s highly possible though that various tribulation events don’t neatly fit into segments, and that events may have overlapping
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timelines. Also, the outpouring of God’s wrath may well occur over a much shorter timeframe than
the 1260 days (nearly 3.5 years), and thus closer to the end of Daniels seventieth prophetic week
than often suggested. The most difficult thing to reconcile about the timing of Revelation 6 is that it appears to run almost right to the end of the tribulation, and yet chapters 7-11 appear to follow
consecutively on from it (due to the pattern of seals and trumpets), and between them contain
events that must span at least several months or more. (The locust plague alone is recorded as being five months.) It is not unlike Prophecy to show something and then go back over in more detail, yet in this case such an explanation doesn’t seem entirely sufficient. Although it gives the impression that the Lord’s return is about to occur in verses 16-17, it is perhaps not immediately imminent. It seems that just prior to the outpouring of God’s wrath the events of verses 12-14 cause great fear to come upon mankind along with an awareness that the time of God’s wrath has come (v 17). And so
it is perhaps just with this awareness that they try to hide from his face, not necessarily because he is about to appear at that moment.
These latter verses of Revelation 6 also seem to tie in with the following in Luke:
"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the
expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
(Luke 21:25-26)
This doesn’t help us a lot though on the matter of timing, for in Luke these verses are immediately followed by the return of the Lord which doesn’t occur in Revelation until the last trumpet (of the seven that came out of the seventh seal) is sounded in chapter 11. This may however just be
because the Luke account is a highly summarized version of events.
Perhaps the key point here is that we need to remain a little flexible in our thinking in terms of how the timing of the latter verses of chapter 6 pans out. Wherever exactly those final verses fit in, the great significance of Revelation 6 is that it provides a general overview of the tribulation period prior to (or even including) the judgment of God up to the point of where the appearing of Jesus seems
reasonably imminent. As such it establishes the order of a number of key events, and when
combined with related threads of scripture forms a key part of our insight into the tribulation period.
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THE 144,000