Revelation Chapter Six (Six Seals Opened)

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REVELATION CHAPTER SIX

THE BREAKING OF THE FIRST SIX SEALS.

The sixth chapter of Revelation is John’s record of the visions he saw
as Christ broke, one after the other, six of the seals binding the roll
of prophecies God had just given to Him. As each seal was broken, more
of the book was unrolled, and Christ translated its prophecies written
therein into dramatic action before John’s vision. We naturally ask how
much of the Christian dispensation was prefigured in those six seals ?
In answering that question, let us note that the prophecies released by
the six seals are all described in one small chapter of Revelation,
whereas there are twentytwo chapters all told. Therefore logically,
the six seals must only cover proportionately a small section of
history from John’s day and onwards.

Let us first visualise the stage and its scenery upon which the prophet
witnessed the dramatization of the future. John saw (probably before
him) a landscape which he called the “earth.” The latter, without a
doubt consisted of the lands of the Roman Empire which have been the
sphere for the fulfilment of all prophecies concerning the “times of
the Gentiles.” This is the area known by Bible students as the
prophetic “earth.” John also saw above this “earth” a sky with its
sun, moon and stars.

We notice at the breaking of each of the first four seals, a horse and
its rider crossed the landscape which was affected in such a way as to
portray the history of the peoples in that “earth.” Also the colour of
the horse in each case apparently symbolised a particular condition of
the Roman Empire, while the rider dramatized the cause of that
condition. That a horse should have been chosen to represent each stage
in the growth and decay of the Roman Empire, can be understood when we
realise the place occupied by the horse in Roman history.

SEAL 1. 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 first seal released on to the stage before John’s gaze a white
horse symbolical of Roman Imperialism at its height, since her emperors
invariably rode white horses as well as her generals in their victory
processions. The “bow” represents her military character. The “crown”
given to the rider is “ stephanos” in the Greek which is a coronet like
a circle of laurel leaves, not a jewelled diadem. This characteristic
shows that the rider and horse symbolised Imperial Rome of John’s day
and the succeeding two centuries since in that period her emperors wore
such coronets in contrast with the diadems worn by barbarian kings.
Many Roman coins illustrate the encircled head on one side, and on the
other the emperor going forth to war riding a white horse. The fact
that the rider and his horse went forth “conquering and to conquer”
perfectly describes the growth of the Roman Empire from 96 to 180 AD,
when it spread its trailed fist in military conquest over all the lands
occupied by the three previous Gentile empires of prophecy. This period
witnessed an empire united in peace under famous emperors, and is fitly
described by historians as the “Golden Age” of Rome.

SEAL 2. Revelation 6:3-4, “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.”

The change in the colour of the horse from white to red symbolised the
corresponding change within the Empire from peace to blood-shed in the
next stage in Roman history. The cause of the banishment of peace was
shown to
John when he saw the inhabitants of the Roman earth “kill one another”
during the civil war. The “sword” symbolised that the law and order of
the emperors was displaced by the rule of the sword.

It must be admitted that this vision was an exact picture of the Empire
in the first century of its decline and fall. From 185 to 284 AD, the
many armies throughout the Empire revolted front allegiance to one
emperor, and created numerous rival emperors who were in turn often
assassinated. The rival armies under their respective generals in the
provinces brought widespread civil war and revolution; whole armies
massacred one another and red blood deluged the Empire.

SEAL 3. Revelation 6:5-6, “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.”

The black horse symbolizes depression and gloom. The cause of that
depression is again represented in the rider, this time by his
balances. The balance was a common symbol in Roman history for justice
and commerce, and hence was
often a badge of the emperor or provincial governors, as seen
on Roman coins.

We ask in what way did the administrators of the Empire bring about a
condition of depression. The voice John heard answers that question.
Taxes to support the armies, etc., of Rome could be paid either in
money or the equivalent value of produce such as wheat, wine and oil.
In order to stop unscrupulous taxgatherers from collecting an unfair
equivalent in produce, it was necessary to value the produce in terms
of money; hence the voice, one measure of wheat to a penny, and so on.
The Greek verb “adikeo” translated “hurt” in verse 6 means (as in
Young’s Concordance) “to be unjust.” Thus the command could have been
better translated “and see thou be not unjust with regard to the oil
and the wine,” that is, in collecting taxes, exact only the fair
equivalent in produce.

Thus this vision is a dramatic picture of taxation, especially in view
of the balances in the hands of the rider denoting the official
taxgatherer.

Therefore we conclude that the cause of the changing colour of the
horse to black depression was taxation. As we turn to the history of
the Roman Empire during the first half of the third century AD, we find
that true to this prophecy one of the chief causes of decay was
excessive taxation. In 212 AD the Emperor Caracalla issued his famous
decree extending the privilege of Roman citizenship to all free men
within the Empire. Such a “favour” was actually a curse since it
carried with it more taxes. This taxation to maintain armies and the
extravagant administration of the Empire proved to be so burdensome
that agriculture was ruined, and fertile provinces were left
uncultivated in desolation, depression and gloom.

SEAL 4. Revelation 6:7-8, “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.”

The pale horse shows the colour of mortification and decay, and
symbolised the approaching collapse and disintegration of the Roman
Empire. The rider whose name was “Death” accompanied by “Hell” or the
grave, represented Death stalking through the Empire claiming as its
victims a clear quarter of the inhabitants by means of wars, famines,
pestilence, and wild beasts.

We see here an accurate picture of the Roman Empire in the latter half
of the third century AD. The years 250 to 300 AD saw disastrous wars
both within the Empire and against the invading Goths. Awful
pestilences followed the bloodshed. Gibbon the historian wrote of this
period that “plague raged without interruption in every province, every
city and almost every family in the Roman Empire. During some times,
five thousand persons died daily in Rome.” Also the ruination of
agriculture through the excessive taxation brought inevitable famines,
and as civilization waned, wild beasts multiplied and ravaged the
inhabitants.

SEAL 5. Revelation 6:9-11, “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 fellow servants also
and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be
fulfilled.”

At the streaking of the fifth seal, John’s attention was directed to a
totally different scene, for he saw an “altar” like the altar of
sacrifice in Israel’s Old Covenant worship: Beneath it appeared martyrs
slain for their faith.

First we ask what did the “altar” signify? In the Book of Exodus, we
have the account of how Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle
for Israel’s worship.

In the court outside the tabernacle, stood the brazen altar where
certain animals were sacrificed to make atonement for Israel’s sins.
However the Old Covenant temple was destroyed in 70 AD, so that
the “altar” of John’s vision must symbolise the “altar” of the New
Covenant which was the cross of Calvary upon which Christ died as the
one great sacrifice for sins. Then the souls “under the altar” in
John’s vision had accepted the forgiveness of their sins made possible
through the blood of Christ, so they were believers or Christians.

Also, the first three chapters of Leviticus describe how that in the
Old Covenant the Israelites could worship God by bringing voluntary
offerings of a bullock or ram, or pigeon, etc. We read that when the
animal was slain, the blood sprinkled on the altar and the carcass
burnt to ashes also on the altar, such a sacrifice was “as a sweet
savour unto the Lord.” Hence when John saw the Christians “under the
altar slain for the word of God,” it symbolised that they were martyrs
who had presented their bodies as a living sacrifice to God and whose
death God regarded “as a sweet savour unto Himself.” Romans 12:1-2, “I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is]
your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is]
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Let us now examine how this vision was fulfilled in the history of the
church. It is common knowledge that Pagan Rome fiercely persecuted the
Christians unto death. The Romans looked upon Christians as enemies of
their gods, since the scriptures condemned their heathen sacrifices,
and they saw that the Christians obtained their inspiration from those
scriptures. Hence when the Romans offered the Christians the
alternative of engaging in such heathen ceremonies or of being tortured
to death, multitudes chose martyrdom, and so died literally “for the
word of God, and far the testimony which they held.”

This same tribulation for the church was also prophesied in Christ’s
description of the “Smyrna” church period. Note also that John saw the
above vision released by the fifth seal, which historically would be
the commencement of the fourth century AD. True to this prophecy, the
most intense persecution of the church was that under the Emperor
Diocletian 303 to 313 AD.

In verse 10 we read that John heard the martyrs cry to God “how long”
would it be before their persecutors would be judged. Just as in
Genesis 4:10, “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy
brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.” When Cain slew Abel,
the latter’s blood metaphorically cried out to God for judgment,
likewise John saw and heard the cry, of the martyrs and their dear
ones, how long was such cruelty and sin to continue without judgment?
In answer “while robes were given” to the martyrs which signified that
they were counted righteous before Cod. They were then told to “rest
yet for a little season” (i.e., in the sleep in death) “until their
brethren were killed as they were.” Here is a definite reference to a
second group, of martyrs which history has recorded for us in the Papal
persecutions when millions were murdered because they believed and
obeyed the same “word of God.”

SEAL 6: Revelation 6:12-17, “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?”

Those who fail to realise the symbolic language is used here, visualise
in these verses the end of the world, and it certainly would be the end
of the solar system if fulfilled literally. Others think that these
verses refer to the second advent of Christ, because the latter event
is so often described as taking place at a time when “the sun shall be
darkened and the powers of the heavens shaken,” as 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 the kings of the earth fulfilled
literally. Others
However, the second advent is not seen by John until Rev. 11, and only
at the end of a long series of events released by the seventh seal
which comes after the sixth seal.

In many scriptures an “earthquake” represents a political upheaval. In
the shove vision John also saw the sky over the Roman “earth” affected
by the earthquake in that the sun and moon were darkened and the stars
fell. In Gen. 37 there is recorded a dream in which Joseph saw “the sun
and moon and eleven stars made obeisance to him.” When Jacob his father
heard of the dream, he gave out the interpretation, “shall I, and thy
mother, and thy brethren come to bow down to thee?” Thus Jacob and
his wife Leah, and their eleven sons, the progenitors of the Israel
nations, were symbolised in that dream by the sun, moon and the stars.
Likewise in John’s vision the heavenly luminaries represented the
authorities over the Roman earth from the emperor downwards.

We do not have to look far into Roman history to locate a great
political earthquake in which the ruling authorities of the day were
displaced. One of the mightiest revolutionary movements which history
discloses was the defeat and fall of heathen Paganism in the conversion
of the Roman Empire to Christianity during the fourth century AD. For
three centuries the Roman emperor was the Pontifex Maximus, that is the
head priest of heathen paganism. In 312 AD, Constantine was converted
to Christianity and in 313 AD defeated the pagan emperors, himself
becoming emperor. Such a unique event was well portrayed to John as he
saw the darkening of the imperial pagan “sun.”

Constantine abandoned the heathen “standards” of the Roman armies and
instead adopted the sign of the cross which seemed to guarantee him
victory after victory over fearstricken armies. Constantine issued an
edict giving complete toleration to Christians, and in the succeeding
years of his rule, issued edicts suppressing heathen sacrifices,
destroying pagan temples, and tolerating no other form of worship than
Christianity. He also elevated Christians into high offices in the
state, and displaced pagans, while heathen priests lost their great
power over the people. Such a displacement of authorities fulfilled the
symbolic falling of the stars in John’s vision.

In verses 15 to 17, John described how that there would be utter panic
and consternation in the Roman world as a result of the “earthquake,”
so that the populace would think that the end of the world had come. As
the Romans saw the Christians honoured, and elevated into positions of
power, no doubt their guilty consciences convicted them of possible
judgment for their sins. John describes how that he saw the Roman
populace trying to hide themselves and their heathenism, in the belief
that the day of judgment was at hand. When Christ foretold the
destruction of Jerusalem, He described how that there would he a
similar scene to the above, i.e., Luke 23:27-30, “And there followed
him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and
lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For,
behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed [are]
the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never
gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us;
and to the hills, Cover us.”

In the frightful destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD many thought that
the end of the world had come. Likewise as Constantine and his army
defeated the pagan armies, the latter fled panicstricken in fear of
approaching judgment. Note that it was only the Roman populace who
cried out that the day of wrath had come. It was not a Divine
authoritative statement, but merely the opinion of the Roman
inhabitants when they saw and experienced such an amazing upheaval.

The fall of paganism symbolized in the above vision released by the
sixth seal took place in the years 313 to 395 AD. Let us note that this
great revolutionary range was shown to John immediately following his
vision of the martyr church released by the fifth seal. Hence once
again we see that the prophecies released by the breaking of the seals
were all in correct time order revealed by their fulfilment in Roman
history. END OF CHAPTER SIX

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