Lesson 10 The Six Seal Judgements of God (Rev 6:1-16)

Lesson 10: The Six Seal Judgements of God (Rev 6:1-16)

The throne scene continues. Revelation 6 reveals the Lamb who opens the six seals of the scroll.

Note that John saw and wrote what he saw and wrote in the past tense: “I watched” …” the Lamb opened” the seals.

Although these events are future, from God’s perspective, these future events are as good as done.

The scroll is written on both sides and sealed with seven seals. Daniel was told by God to shut up the words and seal the book, until “the time of the end” (Dan 12:4-9 cf Rev 10:5-7).

The Tribulation is “the time of the end.”

Each time the Lamb opens the four seals, one of the four living creatures will say, “Come!”

The four seals

1^st seal: A white horse. Its rider had a bow, was given a crown (Greek: stephanos) and he conquers. A “stephanos” is symbolises honor or victory, while a “diadem”
symbolises royalty or sovereignty and is worn by a king.

2^nd seal: A bright red horse. Its rider was permitted to take peace for the earth, so that people will slay/slaughter (sphazo) one another. He was also given a great short double-edged sword (mega machaira).

3^rd seal: A black horse. Its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. A voice from the midst of the four creatures cries, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine!”

4^th seal: A pale black horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill (apoteino) with a long broadsword (rhomphaia), famine, pestilence and wild beasts. A machaira is a short double-edged sword while rhomphaia is a longer, heavier sword.

“Rhomphaia” is a long broadsword, usually denotes conquering (Lk 2:35; Rev 1:16, 2:12, 16; 6:8; 19:15, 21).

“Machaira” is a shorter double-edged sword for close combat and close-quarter killing (John 18:10; Acts 12:2; Rom 8:35, 13:4; Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12).

For example, the sword (machaira) of the Spirit is the truth of the living Word (rhema) of God (Eph 6:17). The Word (logos) of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (machaira), piercing to the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12).

Daniel’s 70^th week begins with the signing of the strong covenant (Dan 9:27). That sets the start of the Tribulation.

The seal judgements signal the beginning of the seven-year tribulation period. The first 3.5-year period in the 7-year Tribulation is called “the beginning of the birth pangs/travail/sorrows” (Mt 24:8).

The first four seal judgements can be correlated with the events in Matthew 24:4-7.

1^st seal – deception (Mt 24:4-5; Rev 6:2)

2^nd seal – war (Mt 24:6-7; Rev 6:3-4)

3^rd seal – famine (Mt 24:7; Rev 6:5-6)

4^th seal – death (Mt 24:7-8; Rev 6:7-8)

5^th seal – martyrdom (Mt 24:9-10; Rev 6:9-11)

In Zechariah, the four horsemen go to the four winds of heaven to unleash God’s sweeping judgement. (Zech 1:7-11; 6:1-8).

Zechariah’s vision is about God’s sovereign care for His oppressed people, promising restoration.

John’s vision of the four horsemen is about God’s sovereign judgement of a rebellious world, promising tribulation.

Then the Lamb opens the 5^th seal.

5^th seal: Under the altar are souls slain/slaughtered (spazo) for the word (logos) of God and for the witness/testimony (marturia) they had borne. They cried out loudly, “O Sovereign Lord, the holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on the earth-dwellers?

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 (apoteino) as they themselves had been.

The Lamb opened the sixth seal

2nd blackout (Rev 6:12): A great earthquake, the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

The 1st blackout was before the great and awesome Day of the LORD (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20).

The Day of the LORD includes the Tribulation period and the millennium reign of Christ on earth.

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, 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.

Before His death, Jesus spoke of the beginning of the birth pangs at His Olivet discourse. The ascended Jesus opens the seals that are God’s judgements on the earth dwellers.

A woman’s birth pain is used in the Old Testament in conjunction with end-time events (Isa 13:8, 26:17; Jer 30:6; Micah 4:9).

Every man will be like a pregnant woman in early birth pangs (Jer 30:6-7).

They occur at a time variously described as “the day of the LORD” (Joel 2:1), “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7), Daniel’s 70^th week (Dan 9:27), the Great Tribulation (Mt 24:21).

See https://israelmyglory.org/article/the-beginning-of-sorrows-matthew-244-8/

During the first 3.5-year period in the 7-year Tribulation, there is the ministry of

a) the two witnesses (Rev 11:3-12, Zech 4; Mal 4:5-6), and

b) the 144,000 Jewish evangelists (Rev 7, 14).

Their ministry in the first half of the Tribulation can explain how the martyrs of the 5th seal in the absence of the Church. The Church, the Bride, the Body of Christ, will be “caught up” (harpazo) to be with the Head, Christ. First, Christ Himself was “caught up” (harpazo) first and the Church was caught up (harpazo) later to meet Him in the air (1 Thess 4:17; Rev 12:5). The rapture (harpazo) of the Church will happen before the signing of the strong between Israel and the Antichrist.

There are several views of how to place the seals, trumpets and bowls judgements in the 7-year tribulation period.

Two main views are:

View 1: The six seals judgements occur in the first 3.5 years leading to the mid-point (the Abomination of Desolation).

Then the 7^th seal starts at the beginning of the second 3.5 years.

(John F. Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Renald Showers, Thomas Constables, Mark Hitchcock, BcResources.net and Emmaus Bible Study on Revelation https://app.emmaus.study/en/modules/18341/courses/37381)

View 2: The seven seals and six trumpets judgements occur in the first 3.5 years leading to the mid-point (the Abomination of Desolation).

Then the 7^th trumpet (with the 7 bowls) starts at the beginning of the second 3.5 years.

(Mark Hitchcock, Thomas Ice, Andy Woods, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Warren Wiersbe).

One way to reconcile the two different views is to study the ministry of the two witnesses of Revelation chapter 11.

Do they minister in the first half or the second half of the Tribulation? When will their dead bodies be left unburied for three and a half days?

Will it be at the mid-point of the Tribulation or at the end of the Tribulation?

The abomination of desolation will take place at the mid-point of the Tribulation (Dan 9:27b; Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:3-4).

The mid-point of the Tribulation will see the Beast, also called the Antichrist and the little horn, speaking words against the Most High and wearing out the saints of the Most High.

Satan the great red dragon will persecute the descendants of the woman (Israel) in the second half of the Tribulation. At the mid-point, the mark of the Beast is mandatory for all commercial transactions. And unbelievers will take the mark and worship the dragon and the beast.