End times series:
Revelation 6
By Liaf
Revelation 1-3 dealt with past and present issues, and Revelation 4-5 show the glories of heaven. John represented a type of church and was called to "come up hither" and from there he was to be shown visions of the future (after the "church age"). The terrible events that occur on the Earth, called the Great Tribulation, do not start to take place in the book of Revelation until the sixth chapter. And in this chapter, we can understand the symbols because Jesus told a remarkable parallel to these events in Matthew chapter 24. Revelation chapter five introduced the scroll and seals. These are the same to be opened that initiate the events that happen in chapter six. Let’s open our King James Bibles to Revelation chapter six and understand God’s Word to us.
Revelation 6:1-2: And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
The Tribulation starts off with the "four horsemen of the apocalypse". Without going past the first two verses, we see a white horseman from the first seal. He has a bow (but no mention of an arrow) and a crown is given to him. From that point, he goes forth to conquer. There are many churches (especially of the liberal or ‘scholarly’ persuasions) that do not believe in prophecy being literally fulfilled. They may even sneer at those who interpret Revelation prophetically and accuse such folks as speaking "as though they know all about this complex book". Yet, they may claim that this book is symbolic of the Christian’s struggle and it is not to be taken literally, except in cases where historic events are expressed symbolically. Of course, the same scholarly, intellectual establishment that would scrutinize everything jumps to the conclusion that this white horseman must be Christ. What gives the scholars this idea if we are to remain in the domain of proper intellectual reasoning? The answer is that there is no evidence, except the horseman’s attire. Whether the scholars want to admit it or not, the bottom line for believing that this horseman is Christ is because as kids, we all learned that the good guys wear white hats in the cowboy movies. There’s no other reason. So there is your rational, scholarly and unbiased opinion as to who this white horseman is while they accuse guys (such as myself) as having this radical and biased idea otherwise. Christ (the Lion of the tribe of Judah) is opening the seals. Jesus would not open or release himself now would he? He turns up later in the book of Revelation in a straightforward manner--- not unleashed like some Genie waiting to get out. I’ll tell you who this is. This horseman is Antichrist. If the liberal intellectuals want to believe this horseman is Christ, so be it. And to nobody’s surprise, they will be following this bleep-hole during the Tribulation, too. Remember all those lessons in the book of Daniel the past few weeks? There were some key passages that described Antichrist and what he does. Remember in Daniel 11 he comes on the scene peaceably and by flattery. This smooth talker will be the "answer" to the world’s problems, especially in the Middle East. He will be a military man of peace as indicated by the bow without the arrow. In addition, he subdues three of the ten kings of the end time Roman Empire. Therefore, a crown is given to him. However, war soon follows because he goes forth to conquer. If this horseman were Christ, who or what is Christ conquering? And if that were the case, why does he show up again in chapter 19? If Christ conquers, you will know it and the book of Revelation would end there at chapter six. Everybody will be subdued without the need for further war.
Notice in Matthew 24:4-5 Jesus explains this horseman (when the disciples asked about the signs of the end). And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. The first horseman is a replacement Christ. This is the world’s Christ. The world’s Christ is Antichrist. Now the New Testament clearly said that many antichrists were in the world already, and indeed, these deceivers are prototypes of THE Antichrist to come. In addition to Antichrist, we shall see there will be a FALSE CHURCH. Many false prophets (or christs) have already come in Jesus’ name saying that Jesus is the Christ (as he predicted) but in reality they distorted his gospel. Certainly in the end time (during the Tribulation) the false church will align herself with Antichrist and government to endorse an established religious system. And anybody deviating from it will be persecuted. Let’s read on:
Revelation 6:3-8: And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. 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.
Notice the parallel in Matthew 24:
Matthew:24:6-8: And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
In short, the next three horsemen represented war that soon followed after Antichrist’s arrival on the scene. In addition, there are famines and pestilence as represented by the other two horsemen. Although the horsemen are symbolic, they represent a very real incident. And Jesus said these were the beginning of sorrows (i.e. the start of the Tribulation). We do not need to be a rocket scientist to see that after the detailed character picture of Antichrist in the book of Daniel, these things would be the consequences. Natural catastrophes also occur (I’m sure Antichrist will wonder why various places on the Earth will be having so much trouble.) Let us continues chapter six:
Revelation 6:9-17: And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 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, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
There are two things that basically occur here: martyrdom and natural disturbances--- even to the point that great people want to be hid from God’s judgement. The natural disturbances seem to have astronomical implications, but on Earth they manifest themselves as an earthquake where every mountain and island were moved out of their places. In Matthew 24 we read:
Matthew 24:9-14: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Since astronomical phenomenon occur near the end of the Tribulation (and Jesus does not mention them here), many seem to believe that the seals encompass the entire Tribulation. The "trumpet" and "vial" judgements to come later in Revelation are inserted within the time frame of the seal judgements. I take this straightforward and in chronological order. I believe the seal judgements come in the beginning. The astronomical phenomenon described here in Revelation six seems to be the one at the end before his Second Coming. However, when we carefully study the other disturbances they differ in description. This makes me believe these are separate and repetitious incidents. Take for example Revelation 8:12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. A third part of the sun, moon and stars being smitten is different than sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth. Now compare Joel 2:10 where it is said, "the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining" which sounds the same as Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:29, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. We see that Joel’s account and Jesus’ account agree where both the sun and moon do not give their light, although Jesus’ account regarding the stars sounds similar to Revelation six. But in Revelation six, it says the sun will be dark but the moon become as blood. That’s different than not giving her light. In Revelation 8, we shall later see that a third part of their light will be smitten. The point is that all these accounts differ somewhat. Do not assume these are the same event, but rather I believe they are series of events. Those of us who know some astronomy agree that a star such as our sun does not just "go out". There are usually alternating periods of instability, including increased energy output before a decrease in output. Note this is what happens in Revelation16:8, "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire."
Besides the martyrs in Revelation six, Jesus inserts an important statement, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." This is important to know, because this will explain the significance of the sealed 144,000 people from the tribes of Israel. Finally, since I have already explained the astronomical events, the concluding point of the chapter is that a severe earthquake will do some geological rearranging. I’m sure the damage this will cause will be a newsworthy event for at least several weeks to come until even more trouble comes. Although this is severe enough that people will want to die, a lot survive this catastrophe for more judgement to take place in the Tribulation. Perhaps they know that this is God’s judgement because of the testimony of the slain martyrs even though Christ did not visibly return to earth yet. They describe Christ as being on the throne, and this is heaven’s throne before he returns. When he takes the Earthly throne, all the rebellion issues will have already been settled and the natural disturbance judgements will already be past.
Chapter six is only the beginning of sorrows as Jesus said. More is yet to come!