Text
: Revelation 6 :1-17
Title
: “The Lamb opens the Six Seals”
Date: 24/11/2013
Summary : Revelation Ch. 4 &5 :
·
A
vision of the One worshipped ( 4:1-6a)
·
A
vision of the worshippers gathered around the throne in heaven ( 4:6b-11)
·
A
vision of the 7 seals. A Question:
Who is worthy to open the seven seals? (5:1-5)
·
Christ
the Lamb is worthy to open the seven
seals. (5: 6-14)
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In
the midst of heaven’s worship (Rev. 4 &
5) John saw a scroll in the right hand of the LORD Almighty. A
strong angel asked in a loud voice : “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” No one came forward, and John became so desperate to have the contents of these
seals unveiled that he had wept at the
prospect of there being no one worthy to unseal the contents – that was until the Lion of Judah, the root of David, the
Lamb who has conquered was declared
as being worthy to open the seals . He is now seen
in the process of breaking them
open in Ch. 6. The question now follows:
What does all this mean?
Observations
at face value show us that
the first 4 seals (6:1-18) deal
with judgments on the earth .
The
next two seals (6:9-17) deal
with things in the heavens.
The
7th seal stands apart from the rest. It is held back until 8:1
and we shall see that it ushers in the
next series of visions – the 7 trumpets, which shall be followed by the vision
of the 7 bowls.[1]
The
scroll contains God’s purposes in the
world – from beginning to end. History
is not
just a haphazard connection of
random events ! History is known to God and directed
by God. We know this because the purpose
of the Revelation to John is “to show
the things that must soon take
place.” (1:1; 4:1). Please note that God
holds the history of the world in His right hand. That is very assuring thing to know,
particularly against the background of
the content that is now
revealed to John and to us.
The opening of the six seals ( 6:1-8)
[6:1] Now I watched when the Lamb
opened one of the seven seals, and I
heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”
[2] And I looked, and behold, a
white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he
came out conquering, and to conquer. The stage is set.
The
Lamb opens the first of the seven seals,
and the voice of one of the four living creatures says
with a voice like thunder, “COME!”.
John sees a rider on a white horse- a conqueror figure. In 19:11-16 we
find the rider on the white horse who is actually named “the
Word of God” and the “King of
kings and Lord of lords”. So we see
here the Lord Jesus Christ Himself riding out
as a conquering King (see also
5:5). He precedes
the following 3 riders who
bear bad news of war and
of lack of food and of diseases. These things must happen, and we are
assured that He is ahead and in control
of them.
Now
this is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ conquering in the midst of
what we have known during these last 2000 – wars and famine and death. We see it in the daily newspapers. We read reports of fighting, terrorism, genocides, inflation
and financial collapse, of famine
and of epidemics. This is the world we live in. However,
it is also in the midst of these years that the gospel is
forcefully advancing, conquering
and to conquer. In all these
things our Lord
is more than a conqueror (Rom.8:37).
He rides ahead! He is in charge of this sad world’s destiny.
[3] When he opened the second seal, I heard the second
living creature say, “Come!” [4] And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace
from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a
great sword. The
Lamb opens the second seal and the second creature before the throne
says: “COME!” … and the second rider on
a bright red horse is permitted to take away peace in the world, so that people should slay one
another…”! If God takes away peace from the world, all He does
is to hand over people to themselves . He does not restrain them.
He allows their evil natures to take
their logical course. This explains as to
why in the history of mankind we have seen such terrible outbursts of
wars, civil unrest, ethnic
cleansings etc.
Men
at the mercy of themselves are capable of unspeakable evil. That is why the prayer of 1 Timothy 2:1-2 is so important : “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be
made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may
lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Pray
that God may restrain evil in our day!
[5] When he opened the third seal, I heard the third
living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
[6] And I heard what seemed to be 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 wine!” The Lamb opens
the third seal and the third living
creature says, “COME!”. John now
sees a rider on
a black horse with a pair of scales in his hand. They are
clearly out of balance as the prices
quoted are exorbitant. This is a
time of distress caused by famine and scarcity- of economic troubles and biting inflation
such as was known in the great
depression of the 1930’s- such as was known in
recent years in Zimbabwe, when
inflation was rampant and food shelves were empty.
A
denarius was the daily income of a
working man in those days. With it he could buy 1 litre of wheat -enough
to feed himself, but not his family. Alternatively
one could buy three litres of barley- merely
enough to exist! Luxuries such as oil and wine on which the rich feed, appear to be available (at a price) even in the hardest of times! We see here
that even inflation and shortage is a means by which
the LORD speaks to the citizens
of this world!
[7] When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of
the fourth living creature say, “Come!” [8] And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was
Death, and Hades followed him. And 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. The Lamb opens the fourth seal
and the fourth living creature
says, “COME!”. Now John sees a rider on
a pale horse . This rider is given free reign to “cull” 25 percent of the world’s people – whether by a gun
in the street, a land mine or a roadside bomb in a battlefield, or by means
of a plane, train or road crash
or a ferry disaster at sea, or through a 1918 flu epidemic, or
through a modern AIDS pandemic. This
rider is
licensed to kill, keeping the daily newspaper headlines supplied!
SUMMARY: I trust that you get the picture. The four seals and the
four horses and the four riders reveal what we see in our world. With awe we
note that the things that we normally attribute to
Satan are in fact things permitted by God ( see Job 1).
All
these judgments are of a temporary
nature and precede and prefigure that
great judgment which is still to come!
Thank
God that the gospel rides ahead, inviting all those who are afflicted and weary
and battered by the sin of man to
flee to Christ. These hardships and sufferings should cause us to ask questions about the true meaning and purpose
of life. These temporary judgments of
Christ often drive people into the arms of salvation. They are a part of God’s
plan “ to bring all things to an end and to reconcile all things together under Christ, whether
things in heaven or things on earth” (Col 1:20). If they do not happen the end will not come…
[9] When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain (lit. martyrs-
witnesses) for the word of God and for
the witness they had borne. [10] They cried out with a loud voice, “O
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our
blood on those who dwell on the earth?” [11] Then they were each given a
white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow
servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they
themselves had been. With the
breaking of the fifth seal an entirely different scene unfolds. John sees under an altar in heaven the souls
(disembodied spirits) of those
who had died for the sake of the gospel.
They were crying out to God in a loud voice : “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long…?”. Like John, they were
impatient for Christ to bring history to a conclusion. Note the following facts about these martyrs:
1. They were alive - they are proof that there is life after death.
2. They were under the altar - According to
the book of Leviticus the blood
of slaughtered animals was to be poured
out at the base of the altar. These martyrs
were sacrificed because of
the testimony they bore to Jesus. They
were murdered by God-less, God- hating
evil men, and their blood cries
out from the earth, waiting to be avenged (Gen. 4:10; Deut. 21:1-9). Even though their death on earth was terrible, they are received in heaven with
honour, and they have not died in vain.
Their blood is not wasted. They are eagerly waiting for God to
bring final justice to the earth. This is what we are all ultimately longing for, and today we are
being reminded that this is what will happen.
3. There
is as yet an incompleteness about
them. They are also crying out because they
are longing to be clothed with their resurrection bodies which will transform them to be like His glorious body ( Phil 3:21), serving Him in the new creation which will
be free from all evil and
injustice. In the meantime, while waiting,
they are given a
white robe to wear. This is an
assurance by which they are reminded
that they are clothed and resting in
Christ’s perfect righteousness. They
were told to rest a little longer, until earthly history is complete and until the complete number of martyrs has come
in. This is what we learn from the 5th seal. In heaven , in a special place we find
our Christian martyrs, but they
are alive, and they are heard by God and
they are comforted - and soon they will
be clothed with their resurrection
bodies! No Christian in the service of God shall die in vain and unnoticed!
[12] When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold,
there was a great earthquake, and
the sun became black as sackcloth,
the full moon became like blood,
[13] and the stars of the sky fell
to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
[14] The sky vanished like a
scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from
its place. [15] Then the kings of
the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the
powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid
themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
[16] calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the
face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
[17] for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” The opening of the
6th seal sets in motion the awesome events that accompany the
end of the age. It introduces the day of
judgment – the day of the wrath of the Lamb (v.16).
This
day is often spoken about in the Bible.[2]
Two things
will happen:
1. There will be a shaking of the entire universe as we know it. (vv. 12-14). We have seen these things in ‘mini formats‘ in terms of strange signs in the sky, earthquakes,
volcanoes etc. but this will
surpass anything the world has seen
thus far. This will be universally
awesome and cataclysmic. Do you
think of that day?
2. The
ungodly among the human race will
be thoroughly shaken up: (vv. 15-17) Everyone is
implied here: kings, great ones,
generals, the rich, the powerful, slave and free - everyone! Since the
second coming holds no
terror for the Christian, only the God haters and atheists
and agnostics and those apathetic to God
will cry for the mountains to fall on
them to hide them from the face of
Him who is seated on the throne and from
the wrath of the Lamb.
The
7th Chapter of Revelation
will deal with the position of the Christian in the great tribulation.
CONCLUSION
This
then is the revelation of the 6 seals.
It is the revelation of the history of
the world. It is not a pretty picture, and we wonder why John would have wept.
But we are looking ahead, aren’t we? We are
longing for this sin infested world to be wrapped up and for the new heavens and the new earth to
appear, a new world in which Jesus shall reign
in His righteousness and where we
who love Him shall be truly free and
eternally happy. Amen
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