1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
"The first four seal judgments involve riders riding horses of various colors. This imagery recalls Zechariah 1:8; Zechariah 6:1-8. However the horses and horsemen in Revelation evidently represent something different from those in Zechariah, as comparison of these texts suggests. The rider carried a bow (cf. Zech. 9:13-14) symbolizing warfare, but no arrows. The absence of arrows probably indicates a bloodless victory. The rider threatens war (cf. Num. 24:8; Ps. 45:5; Zech. 9:14), but it does not occur, probably because he accomplishes victory through peaceful means…This rider rode out conquering his enemies and bent on future conquests.” (Dr. Thomas Constable)
The Spirit repeatedly says “Come” now— from the time of this writing until the event foretold, the glorious Second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the saints will be gathered around Him in glory. “Until then it is still the day of grace. When the first seal is opened one of the living creatures said in voice of thunder, ‘Come.’ The words ‘and see’ must be omitted here and in Revelation 6: 3, 5 and 7. A rider upon a white horse appears; his is a bloodless conquest. He has a bow, but no arrow. He receives a crown and goes forth to conquer. Many expositors make this rider the Lord Jesus or some power which represents Him. It is positively incorrect.” (Arno Gaebelein)
“This coming leader of the revived Roman empire will go forth to conquer and become its political head,” (Arno Gaebelein) by his false doctrine. As Jesus sat upon the mount of Olives, His disciples asked Him about the setting up of His earthly kingdom, associated with the Second Coming. “If you read through the chapter, you see that the main sign is the gospel being preached around the world (verse 14). Christ was saying that His true gospel message would not be preached—but then, right before the end, it would be. That commission being completed would mark the world’s entering into the very last end. That was the main sign Christ gave, but there are others here. The very first thing Christ said was this: ‘Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many’ (verses 4-5). Here, then, is the meaning of the first seal in Revelation, the first horseman of the apocalypse. This is what Christ revealed: It is the white horseman of religious deception. This horseman proclaims a lying message about Christ. This false religion proclaims that Christ was the Messiah, but it is deceiving people about what He said [and did and the implications, as well as about what His wrath will consists of- a wrong teaching of hell-fire]! … He is a false teacher of Christ’s message, one who ‘went forth conquering, and to conquer.’ This deceitful ministry conquers by deceiving, and it has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9). This is the deadliest of all the horsemen.” (Gerald Flurry, Philadelphia COG)
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
There goes forth another invitation— "Come [to Jesus]." But the white horse of antichrist‘s bloodless victories is soon followed, through his perversion of the Gospel, by the red horse of bloodshed. Doctrine affects deeds. The rider is on a fiery red horse- a symbol "of sanguinary war. Power is given him to take peace from the earth, and a [literal] sword is given him - emblem of war, but not of certain victory." (Albert Barnes) His power comes from his ability to deceive those who love not the truth. This contrast is with Christ among the myrtles in Zechariah 1:8— the angel of Yahweh— who wages spiritual warfare during this age. But here, professed Christians are provoked to war against Isis during the church age. This is not the Lord's will; it is evil against evil. Here is the fruit of religious deception. The followers of this horseman must examine their religion. This enemy of Christ [war] will also be destroyed at His Coming, along with those quick to anger.
The nation of Israel was God's agent led by His anointed king in administering justice on the earth. They were aided by Yahweh of host on the battlefield. But today, there is no nation which can even attempt to arise to this calling. We have all gone our own way. It is not supposed to be for we are supposed to be in spiritual warfare only, Even the law of Moses distinguishes between self-defense and acts of outright aggression, even retaliation. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 10-34-39) Yes, Jesus came to bring a sword- but it is the white horseman that we are to fight with the sword of the Word for in another place Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36)
“And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” (4b) People under religious deception will be so enraged that they will fight each other. "The large sword (Gr. machaira megale) represents authority to slay people." (Constable) "Men left without restraint to the indulgence of their lusts and passions, become the tormentors and destroyers of one another." (Justin Edwards)
"What did Christ say about this in the Olivet prophecy? 'And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet' (Matthew 24:6). There will be all kinds of wars from the first coming of Christ to the Second Coming—but those right at the very end before His Second Coming will be about 100 times worse than any ever on this planet! That is what Christ is telling us.This is the same period that the Prophet Daniel called 'the time of the end'—or as the Moffatt Bible translates it, 'the crisis at the close.' It is the worst crisis ever on this Earth! We ought to take note because it is already beginning to unfold before our eyes. Look at all the countries that have nuclear bombs and are ready to detonate them. Once you start a nuclear war, you can’t really stop it." (Gerald Flurry, Phil. COG)
We should be concerned with our testimonies, willing to be counted as "sheep for the slaughter" (Romans 8:36), waiting on Yahweh of host who says “Vengeance is Mine.” We should rather desire to turn away His wrath from among the inhabitants of the earth. "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.' [Proverbs 25:21, 22] Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard 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 the wine.”
Grace beckons "Come!”— today. The first seal of antichrist was a bloodless conquest. But the second— the fruit— was war. And here is more fruit of bad theology— famine. “Antichrist, the cause of this famine, again seems to be the rider (cf. Matt. 24:7 b). He carries a pair of balance scales, a symbol of commerce, indicating his [desired] control of commodity prices.” (Constable) Scarcity seems to be the “consequence of war or discord…” (Barnes) “exactly what our Lord mentions in Matthew 24:1-51: ‘There shall be famines.’ Famine follows war and inasmuch as the second seal brings the greatest war, the third seal will bring the greatest famine.” (Gaebelein)
But a voice— the Lamb— “is heard 'in the midst of the four living creatures' (as Jehovah in the Shekinah-cloud manifested His presence between the cherubim); because it is only for the sake of, and in connection with, His redeemed, that God mitigates His judgments on the earth." (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)—saying "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.” “Bread by weight means scarcity (cf. Ezekiel 4:10, 4:16, 4:17).” (E.W. Bullinger)
”The price of wheat (good food) and barley (cheap cattle food) will be very high." (Dr. Thomas Constable) “A measure of wheat was a very small quantity, and the penny was of much greater value than the English word indicates, (see Matthew 20:2; Luke 10:35;) so that these are famine prices for the necessaries of life.” (Abbott NT Commentary)
“The sense is, that mankind shall be placed on limited rations of bread, like the people in a besieged city; as in Leviticus 26:26; Ezekiel 4:16.” (Cambridge Greek Testament)
And says the Lamb- “do not hurt not the oil and the wine.” The cause of the famine which makes me think of nuclear war "killed the wheat and barley but not the vines and olive trees (Revelation 6:6) whose roots go deeper. [Beckwith, p521.]" (Dr. Thomas Constable) “These would be needed to keep men from starving, so great would be the scarcity of food. Men are dependent on God for the blessings of this life, as well as the life to come. Without his aid, the earth will not yield her increase, and men cannot obtain the necessary means of subsistence…” (Justin Edwards) pointing to “special protection of the elect [of God] in famine times.” (E.W. Bullinger)
“The Greek poets call the famine which this horseman would inflict on men, were he not withheld, αἴθοπα λιμὸν, λιμὸν αἰανῆ, that is, black, gloomy: and the Latins use the same epithets.” (Johann Albrecht Bengel) Hear the Hebrew poet:“I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed.” (Psalm 37:25-26) Perhaps, these commodities of oil and wine are symbolic. And do not harm the oil” [a symbol of the Spirit] “and the wine” [a symbol of His blood]. Note that this enemy— famine— will also be destroyed at Jesus’ coming.
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come .” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” As long as this world exists, grace still abounds for the end is not yet. "The Lamb broke the fourth seal, and the fourth living creature called the fourth horseman out." (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) "This is the only rider that has a name given him….”" (Gill), which ”serves to mark the fourth rider off, as partly distinct in character from the rest."' (Cambridge Greek Testament) Death is the end of religious deception. Strangely, one of the so called agents is death. "This is somewhere called... by ecclesiastical writers mortality..." (Trapp), perhaps death by natural causes, as in old age.
Death first— ”and hades followed with him."- the "abode of the dead... ‘hades’… [was] the typical term used by the translators of the Septuagint to render the Hebrew name 'Sheol' into Greek.... In Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15, Jesus speaks of Capernaum's descending to hades... Most likely he simply means that the city will 'die' or be destroyed... Revelation 6:8 also exemplifies this: Death comes on a horse, and hades (a symbol of death) comes close behind. This personification of hades probably comes from the OT, where hades/Sheol is viewed as a monster that devours people (Prv 1:12; 27:20; 30:16; Is 5:14; 28:15, 18; Hb 2:5)... " (William Tyndale)
“And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (8b) Death comes by "four destroying agents to slay the fourth part of men. Compare Ezekiel 14:21, from which the imagery is taken; also Jeremiah 15:3, where also four destroyers are named." (Justin Edwards)
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
Upon opening the fifth seal, John sees under the altar "the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held." (9) "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (being)." (Gen. 2:7) These souls are a vision of those who were martyred for the faith. "Underneath the altar was where the ashes and remains of sacrifices and offerings went, including the drink offerings. So these martyrs are seen as sacrifices and offerings, not propitiatory, for only Christ’s sacrifice was that, but offerings to God in praise and thanksgiving (Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6 cp. Rom. 12:1 and see Col. 1:24), for their deaths have brought great glory to God…” (Peter Pett)
Some want to wage holy war for Christ's name sake. But these martyrs who died in the Lord were not provoked to war as others, but rather they have humbly gone as sheep the slaughter. They now sleep in the dust but will rise in the first resurrection. And just as Abel's blood cried out from the ground, these cry out “How long, O Lord?”, until that Great Day of God’s wrath. I will not follow any of these riders, but rather shall look, as these did, unto the Day of God's vengeance on His enemies, upon the resurrection of the wicked. Rest until the number of your fellow servants and their brethren (of whom they are a kind of first fruits- James 1:8), who would be killed was completed.
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, here was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Jesus has opened to us five seals, representing His enemies on different color horses. But the sixth seal seems to be what is called today an act of God. The sixth seal discloses not a rider on a horse, but rather things brought about by the Lord of Creation in connection with His coming to judge the nations. The sixth seal pictured the day of the Lord's Coming.“Earthquake-the sun became black-moon became as blood-stars of heaven fell-the heaven departed-every mountain and island were moved; here as often elsewhere, symbols of great commotions, dissolutions of civil governments, fall of illustrious men, and multitudes overwhelmed in ruin. Cp. Isa.13:10; 24:19-20; 24:23; 34:4; Jer. 4:23-25; Ezek. 32:7-8; Joel 2:12; 3:15-16; Amos 8:9; Matthew 24:29…” (Justin Edwards) “This total disruption shall be the precursor of the new earth, just as the pre-Adamic convulsions prepared it for its present occupants.” (Jamieson, Faucett, Brown)
“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh.” (Joel 3:31) “For thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’” (Haggai 2:6-7)
“Terror fills every breast and those who sneered at prayer, as the Christ-rejectors do now, will gather for a prayer-meeting to appeal to the rocks to cover them.” (Arno Gaebelein) Here is the shakeup of ages. Everyone who has exalted themselves— the wicked, including the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man— will be abased. These will hide themselves and eventually seek death but the will not find it. Yes, they will be destroyed with the earth, but they will not die eternally until after they have been judged and acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:11)
"And who is able to stand?” (17b) "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, among the remnant whom Yahweh calls.” (Joel 3:32)