The Seven Seals

THE SEVEN SEALS

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”  (Revelation 5:1-5)

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. (Revelation 6:1-2)

As the First Seal is broken by the Lamb of God the first rider comes forth on a White Horse.  Many try to make this rider out to be Jesus.  There are many reasons this is not Jesus.  First, Jesus opens the seal; He cannot be on the horse at the same time.  The rider is carrying a bow in his hand, a small weapon, when Jesus rides in on a white horse in Revelation 19:11, He will be armed with His sword, His Word.  This rider brings “peace” to the earth.  But this is a very short-lived peace, as we will soon see when the second horse comes forth.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)

As the Second Seal is broken a second rider comes forth on a Red Horse.  As said above, the peace brought to the earth by the first rider is temporary.  This second rider removes peace from the earth.  This does not include just the peace, as in the lack of war.  He also removes any peace that may be held in the hearts and minds of man.  There will be no peace to be found anywhere.  Since the Holy Spirit has already been removed from the earth, (2 Thessalonians 2:1-13) He, the Holy Spirit, can no longer help anyone seeking peace.  Imagine no presence of God on earth.  It’s bad enough as it is, isn’t it?

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” (Revelation 6:5-6)

As the Third Seal is broken a Black Horse comes forth and the rider is holding scales.  Famine accompanies this horse as famine often follows war.  A day’s wages equals a quart of barley.  A quart of barley in those days was the daily allotment of food for a Roman soldier.  Many will be eating from day to day, with no abundance for anyone; that is if you have food at all.  Why not damage the oil and wine?  They are symbols of the rich.  As usual, people on the lower end of the economic scale are harmed by war first and most.

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

As the Fourth Seal is broken (Revelation 6:7-8) the Pale Horse brings death.  As surely as famine follows war, death follows famine.  This pale color in the Greek lends itself to a sickly pale, yellowish-green color.  The horse’s color vividly portrays the pale-green pallor of the death characteristic of the decomposition of a corpse.  When this horse rides out 1/4 to 1/3 of the earth’s population is wiped out.  In mid-2010 the population of the earth was 6,852,472,823.  That means that from 1.7 billion to 2.2 billion people die during these judgments.

As we go forward from here the judgments coming from heaven begin to take on less of a natural appearance and more of a supernatural appearance.  They will not be easily explained away.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelation 6:9-11)

When the Fifth Seal is broken we can see the souls of the martyred beneath the altar that stands before the Throne.  All Christians who die do not die for the Name of God, in this world today that number is very few.  But these below the altar did.  They died holding on to their faith in the face of great persecution.

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Revelation 6:12-14)

As the Sixth Seal is opened a great earthquake hits the whole earth.  This earthquake is nothing like anything anyone has ever seen.  When the earthquake that caused the tsunami in Indonesia a few years ago hit, the islands were moved a measurable amount and the earth actually wobbles on its axis.  Imagine the devastation as a quake hundreds of times stronger hits the entire planet.

Unlike the first five seals which involved human in some form, or another this seal is all God.  From this point forward in The Revelation you will see God’s supernatural workings in everything that happens – what man can time and cause an earthquake?

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the 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 their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Revelation 8:1)

 When the Seventh Seal is opened there is silence in Heaven.  This is a time for all creation to take a deep breath and wait for what is coming next.  As we will see, what follows only gets worse for those who remain on earth.

Bostwick UMC 10/10/21