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Revelation 6
GOD’S JUDGMENTS BEGIN
TO UNFOLD – ROUND 1.
TO UNFOLD – ROUND 1.
In Revelation 4 and 5 with John’s vision of the heavenly sanctuary, with the throne of God Almighty in the very centre, we have learned that the One on the throne is always in control. We have also learned that the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, turns out to be the only one worthy to activate the content of the mysterious scroll on the hand of the One seated on the throne.
For that to happen he would have to break the seven seals with which the scroll was sealed. In other words, Jesus Christ alone is able to work out God’s master-plan for this world, the plan that leads to punishment for the wicked and redemption for God’s people.
Well then, here, in Rev. 6, it begins. All of a sudden the events pick up considerable speed. As the Lamb begins to open the seven seals one by one, we see and hear judgements being issued from God’s throne. We see and hear from above things that explain our experiences here below, as we are on our way toward the final victory of Jesus Christ, and the New Jerusalem.
The vision of the seven seals is divided into a block of four, then two that are connected, and then the last one. In this chapter we will look at the four and the two, the first six seals. Between the opening of the sixth and the seventh seal another story is embedded. We will hear about that in Rev. 7. This will slow down the fast pace of Rev.6, to add a significant view, especially for the church, the believers.
In the meantime, the opening of the first six seals describe events that characterize our world as we move towards the fulfilment, the final unravelling of the purpose of the book. Terrible things are happening. We will see and hear bizarre things in our noisy picture book, that we call Revelation.
But the perspective is that all these things are controlled by the One who sits on the throne, and the Lamb. Behind all this turmoil the Almighty and Holy God is fulfilling and completing his plan of salvation. That is why we don’t need to fear in times of trouble, tribulation, anguish and persecution.
Devastating horses
It is true, we don’t have to fear trouble and persecution. At the same time, what happens when the Lamb of God opens the seals of the scroll, shows us with all kinds of symbols that such times of trouble and tribulation are coming. What John is going to hear must have reminded him of some of the things he had heard from Jesus already. Think, for instance, of what we find in Luke 21.
I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals. That must have been a moment full of suspense for the apostle. We do not use a lot of scrolls nowadays, but usually the contents of a sealed scroll would only be accessible after all the seals were opened. But the drama in our vision is that God’s plan begins to unfold immediately with the opening of the first seal.
It is clear that the first four of these seals belong together. The process is the same, and the results show a lot of similarities. They form one block, a devastating quartet that in close cooperation makes the world a scary place to live in. It is not the same for every individual, but we all know it’s a broken world full of painful suffering, a world that is groaning under the consequences of sin.
When the first four seals are opened, we are shown four horses and their riders. The group reminds us of Zechariah’s first vision. The prophet sees three groups of horsemen returning from a scouting-expedition throughout the earth (Zechariah 1:7-13). Here it is again God who sends out the horses and their riders to do his work. In Zechariah 1 they reported that the whole world was at rest and in peace. Later on, we have to come back to this in connection with the fifth seal.
You may have noticed, when you read Rev. 6, that John alternates again between what he sees and what he hears. He sees seals being opened, and then he hears the four living creatures taking turns in calling up a horse and dispatching it with its rider. They do so in a booming voice as loud as a thunderclap. It is only mentioned with the first one, but there is no reason to believe that the others were whispering.
Four times we hear this loud and powerful command COME! And then we see destruction and disorder, with the four horsemen wreaking havoc on this earth. But the word “come” also connects the opening of the seals with the end of Revelation. There we hear a similar call: “Come…. Come, Lord Jesus. That is in Rev. 22.
Within this framework, between these brackets of the word “come”, we may trust that all evil, woes and judgment we encounter today, will be undone in the future, at Christ’s second coming. God will turn it around. The power of these devastating horsemen comes from him. But here already we look forward to the reversal of this disorder when Jesus will come to usher in new heavens and a new earth.
The first horse is white, with its rider holding a bow, a weapon-of-war. He is also wearing a crown, or better, a victory-wreath, that was given to him. His purpose is to conquer, to submit by force. He is bent on conquest, says the NIV. The question “who is this rider?” is one of the controversial issues in Revelation. There are different ideas about this, and it seems that one is as good as the other.
Many believe that this rider on the white horse is Christ. They have a number of arguments for this, but the main point is the similarity with another rider on a white horse in Rev. 19. Now, that one is indeed Jesus Christ. The description in 19:11–13 makes that quite obvious.
But one of the differences with 6:2 is that he has a different weapon. The rider in Rev. 19 has a sharp sword coming out of his mouth and that we remember from the vision in Rev.1:16. His conquest, his victory comes through the power of his Word, the testimony of the cross. This rider has a bow.
But the main issue is that the four horsemen really belong together as four devastating powers to execute God’s judgments. That is why others state the opposite. They say that this rider is the Antichrist, a devilish parody or caricature of Christ, evil masquerading as good. Does the Bible not warn us that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14)? And he forces submission with his weapon-of-war.
The question is, of course, do we really need to know who this rider is? Do we have to give him a name? We do not do this with the second and third horseman either. They represent certain powers, but as such they are anonymous. Only the fourth one has a name. But we do not have to argue about that, because it’s in the text.
I believe that the rider on the white horse represents the aggressive political forces in this world that claim to rule without God, the powers that want to be in control. They want to conquer.
Sometimes these powers looks pretty benevolent, but when resisted, or criticized, such a power can quickly turn oppressive, and become a dictatorship that takes away our freedom. It can do so with bloodshed, but also by enforcing an ideology.
In our time you can think of secularism. Such a power will often resist the gospel of Christ, outlaw the Christian faith, and persecute Christians.
The second horse John is seeing is a fiery red one. It has the colour of blood. The rider on this horse was given the power to destroy human harmony, to make people hate each other, to take away peaceful order from the earth. People keep trying, but time and again the human dream of ‘world-peace’ fails. People keep hoping that eventually we will all get along better and make the world a better and peaceful place. But that also will continue to be a pipedream.
And in personal relationships it is not any better – bitter disagreements, conflicts, angry feuds and fights...
Table of contents
- PREFACE
- INTRODUCTION
- GOD INTRODUCES THE FINAL PHASE OF HISTORY
- THE EXALTED CHRIST CARES FOR HIS CHURCH
- EPHESUS – PURE IN DOCTRINE, BUT LACKING IN LOVE
- SMYRNA – POOR AND PERSECUTED, BUT RICH
- PERGAMUM – FAITHFUL, BUT COMPROMISING
- THYATIRA – LOYAL, BUT OPEN TO FALSE TEACHING
- SARDIS – DEAD, BUT NOT WITHOUT HOPE
- PHILADELPHIA – FAITHFUL AND ENDURING
- LAODICEA – SELF-CONFIDENT, BUT USELESS!
- OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD – HE REIGNS FROM HEAVEN ABOVE
- CHRIST – OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD
- GOD’S JUDGMENTS BEGIN TO UNFOLD – ROUND 1.
- THE CHURCH IS SEALED TO SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION
- GOD’S JUDGMENTS CONTINUE TO UNFOLD – ROUND 2
- THE REAL HELL’S ANGELS ARE COMING
- IN THE LAST DAYS THE GOSPEL PROCLAMATION CONTINUES
- A PROPHESYING CHURCH IN A HOSTILE WORLD
- GOD COMES TO JUDGE AS GLORIOUS KING
- WATCH OUT FOR THE ANGRY DRAGON
- CHRIST EXPOSES THE DECEPTIVE NATURE OF EVIL
- GOD WILL RESOLVE THE CONFLICT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
- WHEN THE HARVEST IS RIPE, GOD WRAPS UP OUR HISTORY
- GOD PREPARES US FOR THE COMPLETION OF HIS WRATH
- GOD’S JUDGMENTS ENTER THE FINAL STAGE – ROUND 3
- BABYLON IS RIPENING FOR GOD’S JUDGMENT
- WE WITNESS BABYLON’S FUNERAL
- THE DAY OF BABYLON’S FALL IS THE DAY OF GOD’S VICTORY
- JESUS RETURNS AS WARRIOR TO BEGIN HIS FINAL CLEAN-UP
- JESUS RETURNS AS KING TO CONTINUE HIS FINAL CLEAN-UP
- JESUS RETURNS AS JUDGE TO COMPLETE HIS FINAL CLEAN-UP
- WATCH THE DAWN OF A NEW WORLD
- ADMIRE THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
- LIVE THE GOOD LIFE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM
- REMEMBER CHRIST’S URGENT MESSAGE: I AM COMING SOON
- Bibliography
- Study Suggestions and Questions
- Liturgical Suggestions
- PREFACE
- INTRODUCTION
- THE EXALTED CHRIST CARES FOR HIS CHURCH
- EPHESUS – PURE IN DOCTRINE, BUT LACKING IN LOVE
- SMYRNA – POOR AND PERSECUTED, BUT RICH
- PERGAMUM – FAITHFUL, BUT COMPROMISING
- THYATIRA – LOYAL, BUT OPEN TO FALSE TEACHING
- SARDIS – DEAD, BUT NOT WITHOUT HOPE
- PHILADELPHIA – FAITHFUL AND ENDURING
- LAODICEA – SELF-CONFIDENT, BUT USELESS!
- OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD – HE REIGNS FROM HEAVEN ABOVE
- CHRIST – OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD
- GOD’S JUDGMENTS BEGIN TO UNFOLD – ROUND 1.
- THE CHURCH IS SEALED TO SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION
- GOD’S JUDGMENTS CONTINUE TO UNFOLD – ROUND 2
- THE REAL HELL’S ANGELS ARE COMING
- IN THE LAST DAYS THE GOSPEL PROCLAMATION CONTINUES
- A PROPHESYING CHURCH IN A HOSTILE WORLD
- GOD COMES TO JUDGE AS GLORIOUS KING
- WATCH OUT FOR THE ANGRY DRAGON
- CHRIST EXPOSES THE DECEPTIVE NATURE OF EVIL
- WHEN THE HARVEST IS RIPE, GOD WRAPS UP OUR HISTORY
- GOD PREPARES US FOR THE COMPLETION OF HIS WRATH
- GOD’S JUDGMENTS ENTER THE FINAL STAGE – ROUND 3
- BABYLON IS RIPENING FOR GOD’S JUDGMENT
- WE WITNESS BABYLON’S FUNERAL
- THE DAY OF BABYLON’S FALL IS THE DAY OF GOD’S VICTORY
- JESUS RETURNS AS WARRIOR TO BEGIN HIS FINAL CLEAN-UP
- JESUS RETURNS AS KING TO CONTINUE HIS FINAL CLEAN-UP
- JESUS RETURNS AS JUDGE TO COMPLETE HIS FINAL CLEAN-UP
- WATCH THE DAWN OF A NEW WORLD
- ADMIRE THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
- LIVE THE GOOD LIFE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM
- REMEMBER CHRIST’S URGENT MESSAGE: I AM COMING SOON
- Bibliography
- Liturgical Suggestions