Revelation 6:1-8

The Seals

1I 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!" 2I 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.
3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4Then 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.
5When 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. 6Then 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!"
7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8I 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.



6:1-2 - To have any chance of understanding this chapter, we must have a firm knowledge of several other passages of Scripture. The six seals of this chapter bear a striking resemblance, and are really a re-presenting of the prophecy of Jesus recorded in Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. These horsemen are the wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes of Jesus’ prophecy. This passage introduces us to the the famous "four horsemen." The central passage behind the imagery of the horsemen is Zech. 6:1-7, which describes the four winds as God’s chariots that patrol the earth. They also draw from the images of the four locusts in Joel 1:4; the four riders on different colored horses in Zech. 1:8; the four horns of Zech. 1:18; and the four craftsmen of Zech. 1:20. Also important as background for the imagery is Hab. 3. Consider the comparisons of God coming in judgment, shining like the sun, flashing with lighting (Hab. 3:3-4; Rev. 1:16; 4:5), bringing pestilence and plague (Hab. 3:5; Rev. 6:8), shattering the mountains and collapsing the hills (Hab. 3:6, 10); Rev. 6:14), riding on horses against enemies (Hab. 3:8, 15; Rev. 6:2, 4-5, 8), armed with a bow (Hab. 3:9, 11; Rev. 6:2), extinguishing the sun and moon (Hab. 3:11; Rev. 6:12-13), and trampling the nations (Hab. 3:12; Rev. 6:15). Habakkuk interprets his vision as the military invasion of Judah by the Chaldeans. Using similar imagery, John depicts God using the Romans as heathen instruments of divine wrath to bring about Israel’s destruction.

The first rider on the white horse, is already victorious for he was given a crown. Many who try to read Revelation from a futurist perspective claim that this rider is the so-called anti-Christ. For several reasons, this cannot be; the rider is, in fact Jesus Christ. First, He is riding a white horse, which Jesus does in Rev. 19:11-16. Second, this rider carries a bow. This imagery is from Habakkuk 3, which shows the Lord as the warrior and king, carrying a bow. The first-century readers would have understood this rider to be Christ due to the crown, the bow, and that He goes out bent on conquest. This word conquest, is the same word translated "overcome" in Rev. chapters 2 and 3. In short, the horsemen represent the forces God uses in judging disobedient nations, which are now turned against apostate Israel. Christ is coming not to heal and save as He is in chapter 19 after 70 AD. Here He is coming to judge and destroy.

6:3-4 - The Lamb opened the second seal, and John hears him say, "Come." The second rider was on a fiery red horse, symbolizing war. The rider was given power to take peace from the earth. God does not have to incite men to war with one another, He simply takes away His providence which provide the conditions of peace. The only reason there is not more war is because God does not allow it. This war was about to become a bitter reality for apostate Israel.

6:5-6 - The third rider is on a black horse who is holding a pair of scales in his hand. This rider brings economic troubles. A voice among the four living creatures says, "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!" A small measure of wheat costing a day’s wages would be devastating and chaotic to the community. Jewish historian Josephus describes just this sort of horrific economic conditions during the final siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Describing the desperation for food, he says" As the famine grew worse. . . Nowhere was grain to be seen, men would break into houses. . . Many secretly bartered their possessions for a single measure of wheat if they happened to be rich, barley if they were poor." The rider is told not to touch the oil and wine, but why? The imagery here is that the righteous are to be untouched. Scripture often speaks of God’s blessings upon the righteous in terms of oil and wine (Psalm 104:15), and these two items were prominent in the early church (James 5:14-15; 1 Cor. 11:25). This would concur with passages like Rev. 7:3 in which the godly are protected from destruction.

6:7-8 - The fourth horse is translated pale, but the word is actually the common word for green. Apparently some translators have thought think John could not have seen a green horse, so they changed it for him. This green horse is that of Death. Death and Hades are given the power to enact the Covenantal curses of Lev. 26 and Deut. 28, which are summarized in verse 8. It also parallels the four basic categories of curses used to punish disobedient nations (Ezek. 14:21; Ezek. 5:17). The key to understanding this passage is to do what many refuse; we must recognize that God is bringing forth these judgments on the land. It is Jesus who breaks the seals, and He who rides in conquest against the nations who rebel against His universal rule.