Day 14 of Revelation Study: Chapter 6

The Four Horsemen

It is here that Jesus breaks open six of the seven seals on the scroll with each unleashing a specific judgment upon mankind. The first four are set apart because in each of them the four living creatures (4:6; 5:8) take turns calling forth a horseman of God’s wrath. There is much debate over the significance of the colors, but I will give it my best shot:

1.      A white horse (6:1-2) – We tend to view white as the color of purity or even mistake this to be the hero of the story coming at just the right time, such as when Gandalf rode up over the hill at Helm’s Deep in the second Lord of the Rings movie. There he is seen as showing up and saving the day just when the battle was about to be lost. However, in the first century, white was considered to symbolize the conqueror (cf. 2:17; 3:5; 6:11). Thus, this seal judgment pictures the coming of the conquering Anti-Christ into power who will reign over the entire world for a few years.

2.      A red horse (6:3-4) – This seal judgment is comprised of bloodshed and death. It is said that this rider will take peace from the Earth and men will slay one another. Now, we all know that wars are constant in the world we live in today. However, what John is seeing is unprecedented. It is war like never before in all of history. Notice that it says the rider will “take peace” from the earth. To take something implies that there is something to be taken. Thus, the color red symbolizes the amount of blood which will be shed during this time.

3.    A black horse (6:5-6) – This judgment signifies death of another kind—that of plant death and food shortage. There is a great and terrible famine coming which will cause the economy to collapse and the prices to sky-rocket. Black is the absence of color which shows that there will not be a whole lot of greens (i.e. fruits and vegetables).

4.    A pale horse (6:7-8) – This is the only rider that is named, and his name is “Death.” Following close behind is Hades and these two are given authority to kill, what seems to be, a quarter of the human population. Nevertheless, all that the text says in 6:8 is that “they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” Thus, they are given authority to pursue and kill men and women, but the text does not say that they will kill only a fourth of the human population, but a fourth of the earth. Yes, human beings will die. A lot of them will, but a fourth of the earth includes animal death and plant death and, yes, human death. Pale is the color of a corpse.

Seal Judgments 5 & 6

With the opening of the fifth seal, John sees the martyrs asking God when He will avenge them by killing those who put them to death. Notice that John sees the souls of those who were martyred. This tells us that these men and women were saved and then martyred after the rapture of the Church [within the Tribulation] because they have not received their new glorified bodies yet. Members of the Church will receive theirs at the rapture when Christ comes to rescue His people from the Great Tribulation (1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 13-18). The Tribulation saints will be resurrected just before the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:4-5). These martyrs were likely killed as a result of the first and second seal judgments being opened with the coming of the conquering Anti-Christ and the removal of peace. God’s response to them is one of patience. Everything happens according to His timeline.

Finally, chapter six closes with the breaking of the sixth seal [the seventh will be opened at the beginning of chapter eight]. This judgment is one of catastrophic natural disasters on a global scale. It entails a great earthquake which even more so divides the land and sea, astronomical phenomena, and the world’s most powerful people running and hiding in fear.

Continue on to read about chapter 7.

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