And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
The Fourth Seal, Rev 6:7-8
7. I heard the voice of ] The slight variation of phrase serves to mark the fourth rider off, as partly distinct in character from the rest. They have brought an increasing series of scourges to the earth: his work is utter and unmitigated woe, combining the worst features of theirs.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And when he had opened the fourth seal – See the notes at Rev 5:1.
I heard the voice of the fourth beast say – The flying eagle. See the notes at Rev 15:7. As in the other cases, there does not appear to have been any particular reason why the fourth of the living creatures should have made this proclamation rather than either of the others. It was poetic and appropriate to represent each one in his turn as making proclamation.
Come and see – See the notes at Rev 6:1.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 6:7-8
A pale horse:Death, and hell
Death on the pale horse
I.
This horse and his rider set out after us as soon as we were born; they are perpetually gaining ground on us, and therefore sooner or later they must overtake us.
II. It is awfully uncertain when he will overtake us.
III. It is equally certain, that when he does overtake us he will strike his blow, and nothing can prevent it. There is a great deal said at this day about the march of intellect. Yes; but intellect with all its march, never out-marches Death. He marches faster than intellect, and he will soon overtake. Nor can the greatest peace, holiness, and usefulness prevent it.
IV. Who then are the characters that, when death strikes the blow, will drop into hell, in the literal sense of the word?
1. Those who have never broken off their sins by true repentance.
2. Those who have not a personal interest in Jesus Christ by faith.
3. Those who have not experienced the regenerating influence of God; die as you are, without being born again, and you will be lost.
4. Those who did once run well, but who have now ceased to run well. (W. Dawson.)
The life of faith in death
But what now are we come out to see?
I. Behold the seal opened. Seals we use commonly to confirm and conceal, to make things sure, and to keep things secret. And thus death, as all Gods judgments, is said to be sealed (Job 3:3), and that with a firmer seal than of the Medes and Persians. In a word, men die not by chance, course of nature, influence of stars, but then and therefore, because it is appointed. That Christian who believes this, though he may desire Davids arithmetic to number his days aright, yet will he never study the black and senseless art of calculating his birth and death. None but fools are curious and inquisitive to know that which is under Gods privy signet. We are all as soldiers sent to sea with commission under seal, not to be opened till we come to such and such a point. Some deaths, indeed (as some clocks), give warning before they strike, with symptoms and signs infallible; but generally God hath seen this the best for us, that it should be for the general most certain, for the particular most uncertain, to him sealed, to us concealed; of which he would have us make these uses.
1. First, for our bodily health, not to be too careful, nor too careless.
2. Secondly, for our souls provision, not to do as most that have set days of truce and peace, and in which they hang up their armour a-rusting, and their beacons unwatched; but as people that live in perpetual hazard of war have all things in a daily readiness for service upon the least alarm.
3. Whenever this horse conies to fetch away us, or any of ours, children, or friends, a believer stamps not, and rages not, murmurs not, repines not, as the wild Irishmen without hope; expostulates not with destiny, but with Aaron, lays his hand on his heart and mouth for his sons sudden death, knowing what God hath sealed shall be and must be.
II. The seal being thus opened, come and see the creature that issues forth. Behold an horse, a fierce, a strong, a warlike, a speedy creature, so described by God Himself (Job 39:1-30.). Look, as the sturdy steed dashes out the little whappets brains, so easily doth Death with the least kick and spurn of his heel the stoutest constitution, triumphing like an emperor over all sorts of people, treading on the necks of kings and princes, as Joshua over them in the cave. What, then, is the course the Christian takes? He neither foolishly thinks to resist or escape, nor yet cravenly yields; but addresseth himself for the encounter.
III. Behold also the colour of this horse, the colour of the withering leaf, pale and wan, symbolising and noting the effect he hath first upon the living, whom he appals. See we not often prisoners at the bar wane away, and dye as white as a cloth at the sentence of death pronounced on them. A second effect of this pale horse is after death, bereaving the bodies of all blood and colour, making them lifeless, till the fashion of them he utterly altered, the beauty consumed, and shape turned into rottenness. Oh, how grievous is this to such Absaloms, Jezebels, and Rosamonds, who have set much by their painted sheaths and pampered carcases. Dust they were, and to dust they must return. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vanity.
IV. Well, then, behold also, even hell, the page and follower of death, attending him wherever he goes among the wicked sort. Whence it is that they are so often coupled in this book, death and hell. Look as the foxes wait upon lions, carrion crows upon armies, gaolers upon sergeants for a prey, so diligently does the devil on Death for a booty. No fowler does more cunningly stalk behind the horse, or creep behind hedges, to get his aim at the shy fowls. No sergeant hides his mace, no angler his hook more warily, knowing that else hell should never swallow so many. In this consists the devils chiefest policy and our grossest simplicity, and even this is the cause of our sottish and foolish living and dying. (T. Adams.)
Views of death
I. The description given us of death.
1. Death is under a seal. It has a commission to execute, and cannot go beyond it: limits are fixed to it by the purpose and power of God, and it cannot break through them. Death is inevitable, because the Divine decree is unalterable. We fear death, and we fear hell; but he is more to be feared who has the keys of both. We are immortal till our time is come, and our work is done. The king of terrors, before he can level his dart so as to do any execution, must have a warrant from the King of heaven.
2. It is represented as riding: not creeping, walking, or running, but riding; which intimates that he moves swiftly, and often comes unexpectedly. It may also denote something of state and majesty: for it may be said of him, as of the other horseman, that he goeth forth conquering and to conquer. No wisdom can deliver, no strength can rescue, no wealth can ransom from this victorious enemy.
3. Death rides on a pale horse, and this colour may denote the general appearance of mortality.
4. It is represented in our text as having hell following after it. The page is more dreadful than the master; death would not be so terrible, were it not for that which follows it. Death to a wicked man is but the beginning of sorrows: to make use of it, then, as a remedy for other griefs, is but like leaping out of the smoke into the flame. We may make a mock of sin; but can we make a mock of hell?
II. Our duty with respect to death.
1. That we render the thoughts of death familiar to ourselves.
2. That we exercise faith in the providence and grace of God, both with respect to death and its consequences.
3. That we patiently wait and cheerfully submit to it. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The
pale horse:–
I. The figurative description here given of death.
II. Our duty respecting it.
1. Come and see the antiquity of death.
2. Come and see the extent of its devastations.
3. Come and see this spoiler conquered.
4. Come and see how death may safely be encountered. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. The fourth beast] That which had the face of an eagle.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The beast mentioned Rev 4:7, that had the face of a flying eagle, inviteth John to attend to the opening of
the fourth seal, that is, the revelation of the counsels of God, as to what should happen to the church (within the Roman empire) in the fourth period, which is conceived to have begun with Maximinus, about the year 237, and to have ended with the reign of Dioclesian, 294.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. and seesupported by B;omitted by A, C, and Vulgate. The fourth living creature,who was “like a flying eagle,” introduces this seal;implying high-soaring intelligence, and judgment descending from onhigh fatally on the ungodly, as the king of birds on his prey.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when he had opened the fourth seal,…. Of the seven seals of the sealed book; that is, when the Lamb had opened it, or took it off, as in Re 6:1;
I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see; this living creature was that which was like an eagle, and was on the north side of the throne, answerable to the standard of Dan, which was on the north of the camp of Israel, and had the figure of an eagle upon it; and the opening of this seal begins with Maximinus the Roman emperor, who came from Thrace, far north. This living creature was not James, the brother of our Lord, who had been dead long ago, as Grotius imagines; nor Cyprian, as Brightman thinks, though he lived under this seal; but the ministers of the Gospel in general in the times referred to are intended: and it may denote some decline in the Gospel ministry, that they had not the courage and strength of the lion, as the first Gospel preachers; nor the patience and laboriousness of the ox, the next set of ministers; nor the solidity and prudence of the man, the ministers that followed them; and yet they retained some degree of light and knowledge, sagacity and penetration, and contempt of the world, signified by the eagle; these invite John in a visionary way to come and see the following hieroglyphic.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(THE FOURTH SEAL DISCLOSED) v. 7, 8 The Pale Horse Rides – Death and Horror
1) “And when he had opened the fourth seal,” (kai hote enoiksen ten aphragida ten tetarten) “And when he (the Lamb) had opened, broken, or disclosed the fourth (of the seven) seal,” of the sealed book within and without that only he was worthy to open, Rev 5:1-2; Rev 5:9.
2) “I heard the voice of the fourth beast say,” (ekousa phonen tou tetartou zoou legontos) “I heard a voice of the fourth (the last of the four) living creature saying, inviting;” this is the fourth of the quartet of living creatures that joined the twenty-four elders earlier round about the throne, giving praise to God and the Lamb for creation and redemption, Rev 4:9-11; Rev 5:8-10.
3) “Come and see,” (erchou) “Come thou and see, observe, or consider.” John was called to behold the fourth horse, and last of the four-horsemen, riding the earth to bring divine judgments upon it.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Strauss Comments
SECTION 18
Text Rev. 6:7-8
7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come. 8 And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts the earth.
Initial Questions Rev. 6:7-8
1.
Who was the rider of the pale horse Rev. 6:8?
2.
Who followed behind this rider?
3.
How extensive were his powers and how great his authority Rev. 6:8?
4.
How is the devastation spoken of in Rev. 6:8 related to the will and purpose of God?
Rev. 6:7
John was again commanded to come and see the content of the seal.
Rev. 6:8
He saw A pale green horse, and the one sitting upon it, his name (was) Death, and hades (transcribed from the Greek term hads this is not a translation of the term) followed with him,. . . . The name of this rider, following the Semitic pattern was called by his chief characteristic. Semitic names were always descriptive of a major attribute of the bearer. What follows war and famine? Plagues and pestilence are always hard on the heels of war and scarcity. This rider is described as pale, livid, corpse-like. The imagery is ghastly! And was given (pass. Voice someone else gave them this authority it was not an intrinsic characteristic,) to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (hupo instead of en indicating actual agents) See Eze. 14:21 and the judgments discussed there). John reveals this terrible situation which comes upon the Christian and unChristian alike. Does faith in Jesus Christ make any difference when intense evil is inflicted upon the earth? Our Faith must be the victory! The third verse of that grand old hymn is very much to the point.
Faith Is the Victory!
To him that overcomes the foe white raiment shall be givn;
Before the angels he shall know His name confessed in heavn;
Then onward from the hills of light, Our hearts with love aflame;
Well vanquish all the hosts of night, In Jesus conquring name.
Faith is the Victory—-Faith is the Victory—-
Faith is the Victory that overcomes the world.
Review Questions
See Rev. 6:12-17.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(7, 8) The fourth seal.And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being, saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a horse, pallid (or, livid), and he that sat upon him his name was Death, and Hades was following with him; and there was given to them power over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth. The colour pallid, or livid, is that deadly greenish hue, which is the unmistakable token of the approach of death. The rider is Deathnot a particular form of death, but Death himself. Attending him, ready to gather up the slain, is Hades. The fourth seal is the darkest and most terrible. Single forms of death (war and famine) were revealed in the earlier seals; now the great King of Terrors himself appears, and in his hand are gathered all forms of deathwar, famine, pestilence (for the second time the word death is used: it must be taken in a subordinate sense, as a particular form of death, such as plague, or pestilence; we may compare the use of the word death thus applied to some special disease, in the case of The Death, or Black Death), and wild beasts. These forms of death correspond with Gods four sore judgmentsthe sword, and famine, and pestilence, and the noisome beasts of Eze. 14:21. The seal, therefore, gathers up into one all the awfulness of the past seals. It is the central seal, and it is the darkest. It is the midnight of sorrows, where all seems given up to the sovereignty of death. The middle things of life are often dark. Midway between the wicket-gate and golden city Bunyan placed his valley of the shadow of death, following the hint of the Psalmist, who placed it midway between the pasture and the house of the Lord (Psalms 23). Dante, perhaps working from the same hint, found his obscure wood and wanderings midway along the road of life:
In the midway of this our mortal life
I found me in a gloomy wood, astray.
The darkest periods of the Churchs history were those we call the Middle Ages. By this, however, it is not meant that there is any chronological signification in the seal. The vision deepens in its central scene, like the horror of darkness in the dream of Abraham. The history of the Church has not unfrequently presented a sort of parallel. The age which follows the ages of barren dogmatism and of spiritual starvation is often an age of sham spiritual life. The pale horse of death is the parody of the white horse of victory: the form of godliness remains, the power is gone.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE PALE HORSE – WHOLESALE DEATH ( Rev 6:7-8 ).
This represents all four of God’s sore judgments as mentioned in Ezekiel 14. It sums up every form of death, which is why its rider’s name was DEATH, with HADES (the shadowy world of the grave) following with him, to collect the victims. Its pale colour is intended to show the pallor of death.
Death and the Grave are seen as co-partners elsewhere in Revelation (Rev 1:18; Rev 20:14). Compare Hos 13:14 where the promise is made that men will be redeemed from the power of ‘death and the grave’. Thus they were regularly seen as together. Here they ride out to claim their victims, but the reader has the assurance that Jesus Christ holds the keys of death and the grave (Rev 1:18) and will one day destroy them (Rev 20:14).
‘A fourth part of the earth’. This stresses that, while considerable licence is given, there are reins upon the pale horse. He cannot go beyond the boundaries set by God. Judgment it may be, but it is tempered with mercy.
The word for ‘death’ is regularly used in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) to translate the Hebrew word ‘deber’ which means destruction, plague, pestilence (1Ki 8:37; Jer 14:12). So, just as in the past pestilence was called The Black Death, we have a similar situation here.
Here then we have sword, famine, pestilence and wild beasts as in Ezekiel 14. Throughout history the world, beginning in the first century, has experienced devastating examples of all four which have carried off vast numbers of people.
The ‘sword’ mentioned here (rompheia – used in Rev 1:16) is a different type from that in the second seal (macheira), possibly suggesting that there is an increase in warfare as different nations using different types of weapons enter the fray, but the words are used elsewhere interchangeably. The wild beasts would naturally arise in the areas depopulated by the earlier wars and famines, and they carry on the dreadful work. So the horsemen ride and the world suffers. But as God is here pointing out, they are precursors of the end, they are ‘the beginning of suffering’ (Mat 24:28).
The Significance of the Four Horsemen.
In the words of Jesus the four horsemen are ‘the beginning of birth pains’ (Mat 24:8). As the world sees religious fanaticism which results in men’s destruction, international warfare, famine and widespread pestilence, they can recognise that ‘the end’ is beginning. In the first century Christians men saw all four riding, and they have continued to ride to the present day, and they are riding today, and often they have raised questions as to whether God is aware of what is happening.
But this vision contains within it the encouragement that when these things happen it does not mean that the world is out of control, for they ride with God’s permission. He has allowed them, firstly because they are the inevitable consequence of men’s sinfulness, and secondly in order that through them men might be brought to consider eternal realities. Nothing makes men face more up to reality than prospective death and the grave.
It should be noted that these horsemen are riding at the same time. While one follows another, building up to the worst one of all, each continues to ride. The first century AD saw false Messiahs and prophets, war, famine and pestilence and earthquakes, continually side by side. They ride together through world history, a continual reminder of the end. The beginning of the third millennium has already demonstrated that they are riding as bloodthirstedly as ever, especially in the countries of the Bible.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The opening of the fourth and fifth seals:
v. 7. And when He had opened the fourth seal, I Heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
v. 8. 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.
v. 9. 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;
v. 10. 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?
v. 11. 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. The prophetical types of the coming tribulations became more and more of a nature to strike terror into the heart of man: And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being saying, Come and see. In this case the eagle-faced cherub called to John to be a careful witness of the action of the Lamb and of its results. The prophet gives this description: And I saw, and, behold, a livid horse; and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and Hell followed after him, and to them was given power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and with hunger and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth. Here is a gruesome picture, the horse of a pale green, livid color, and his rider Death, with Hell at his heels, with pestilence and mortality, death in all its various forms, as their instruments of punishment. Everything that will bring death upon mankind in extraordinary and unusual forms is here mentioned. Truly, these words and their type have been fulfilled in the many devastating wars and famines and pestilences of which history tells, of which the majority of people living today have been witnesses. But hell, although it accompanies death and threatens to devour all men that die, has no power over those that are in God’s hands It is true, on the one hand, that in the midst of life we are in death; but it is also true, on the other, that in the midst of death we are in life, for we are in the hands of our Redeemer.
The opening of the fifth seal: And when He opened the fifth seal. I beheld beneath the altar the souls of those that were slain on account, of the Word of God and on account of the testimony which they bore The scene is here transferred from earth to heaven, the latter being conceived of as a splendid temple with its altar of burnt offering When the Lamb opened the fifth seal of the scroll, there were disclosed before the eyes of John all the souls of those that had been martyred on account of their confession of the Word of God, of the Gospel of their salvation, on account of the testimony which they bore to their Redeemer. Since the time of Stephen, who was murdered for his confession of Christ, the number of martyrs for the cause of Christ has steadily increased, until their number is beyond calculation. But their souls are in a safe place, in the care of God, where no plague or anguish can touch them.
The martyred souls are represented as being conscious: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Sovereign holy and true, wilt Thou delay in charging and avenging our blood upon those that dwell upon the earth? The martyred souls are here shown in the act of crying to God for vengeance, for a vindication of His holiness and truth. The enemies of Christ and the Gospel, who have shed the blood of the Christians as water, not only in the great persecutions of the early Church, but also in the Inquisition of the Middle Ages and since, will be found by the righteousness and the avenging justice of God, for the blood of their victims cries to the Lord from the earth. God’s patience seems to delay unduly in punishing the crimes against His children, but in due time He will vindicate His holiness and truth.
This is indicated even in the manner in which the martyred souls were treated: And there was given to them, to every one, a white robe, and it was told them that they should remain quiet yet a little while, until there were added to them also their fellow-servants and their brethren that were sure to be killed as they were. White garments, the symbol of sanctity, purity, righteousness, and innocence, were given to the perfected saints in token of the righteousness of Christ which had been imputed to them by faith, by virtue of which all their sin was covered. The number of martyrs was not yet complete; as the enmity of the heathen increased, others would surely be added, just as history has shown and is showing this to us. But only a little while it would last, as God’s time is reckoned, and then God’s day of wrath would surprise the enemies of His Word, then God’s holiness and justice would be vindicated in all eternity. Patience, therefore, is one of the greatest Christian virtues, patience and a certain trust in the government of God.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rev 6:7-8. And when he had opened, &c. The fourth seal or period is distinguished by a concurrence of evils, war and famine, pestilence and wild beasts, and was proclaimed by the fourth living creature, which was like an eagle, and had his station in the north. These are the same four sore judgments with which Ezekiel, ch. Eze 14:21 threatened Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence: for, in the Oriental languages, the pestilence is emphatically styled death. These four were to destroy the fourth part of mankind; and the image is very poetical of death riding on a pale horse, and hell, or the grave, following with him, ready to swallow up the dead corpses. This period commences with Maximin, who was an emperor from the north, being born of barbarous parents in a village of Thrace. There was not a more cruel animal upon earth. The history of his and several succeeding reigns is full of wars and murders, mutinies of soldiers, rebellions of subjects, and deaths of princes. There were more than twenty emperors in the space of fifty years, all or most of whom died in war, or were murdered by their own soldiers or subjects. Besides lawful emperors, there were, in the time of Gallienus, thirty tyrants or usurpers, who came all of them to violent and miserable ends. Here was sufficient employment for thesword; and such wars and devastations must necessarily produce famine; and the famine is another distinguishing calamity of this period. In the reign of Gallus, the Syrians made such incursions, that not one nation subject to the Romans was left unwasted by them; and every unwalled town, and most of the walled cities, were taken by them. In the reign of Probus also there was a great famine throughout the world, which was the occasion of his armies mutinying and slaying him. The usual consequence of famine is the pestilence; and the pestilence is the third distinguishing calamityofthisperiod.Thispestilence,arising from Ethiopia, pervaded all the Roman provinces, and for fifteen years together incredibly exhausted them. It raged so furiously, that fivethousand men died in one day. When countries lie thus uncultivated, uninhabited, unfrequented, the wild beasts multiply, and come into the towns to devour men, which isthe fourth distinguishing calamity of this period; and we read that five hundred wolves entered into a city together, which was deserted by its inhabitants, where the younger Maximin happened to be. The colour of the pale horse is very suitable to the mortality of this period; and the proclamation for death and destruction is fitly made by a creature like an eagle, which watches for carcases. This period continued from Maximin to Dioclesian; about fifty years.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 6:7-8 . The fourth form of horseman is recognizable not only by the entire description, but also his name is expressly mentioned: . The text is thus as contradictory as is possible to all allegorizing interpretations of mortal heresy, [2071] of the complete falling away from Christ as spiritual death, [2072] of the Saracens and Turks, [2073] of the Roman people with the Emperor Domitian, whom “Hell follows,” because immediately after his death he entered it. [2074] Incorrect, also, as in Rev 6:5-6 , is the limited reference of the whole to any special case, as possibly to the diseases and rapine which occurred at the time of the Jewish war in consequence of the famine (Rev 6:5-6 ), [2075] or to the devastations made by the flavi Germani , and other nations of the migration. [2076] As already by the ancient prophets, in addition to the sword [2077] and hunger, [2078] pestilence [2079] and also wild beasts [2080] were called grievous divine judgments, so the Lord also enumerates pestilences ( ) among the signs of his coming. Yet it does not follow thence that the horseman, who has the name , is the plague; [2081] but it corresponds with those types, that death personified, just as the shedding of blood personified, and famine personified, should enter because of the Lord’s going forth to his victorious goal, and that the means mentioned (Rev 6:8 ) should ascribe to him deadly efficacy. This horse has the color which agrees with his work. designates not only the fresh green of the grass, [2082] but also the greenish pallor of fear [2083] and of death. [2084]
. The loose but forcible construction in which the preceding nom. is absorbed by the following dat. ( . . ), as in Rev 3:12 ; Rev 3:21 .
. The with . as Luk 9:48 . To understand Hades by metonymy for the inhabitants of Hades, the host of those swept away by death, [2085] is an assumption which not only gives a monstrous idea, but also especially avoids the correct reading . The incorrect explanation, as well as the incorrect reading , depends upon the failure to recognize the fact that Hades, i.e., the place belonging to death, [2086] because filled by the agency of death, is represented here like death itself, as a person following death. The idea of locality, which especially belongs to Hades, is also in Rev 1:18 decisive as to the idea of death; conversely here and in Rev 20:13 sqq., Hades is personally considered, which suits better the idea of death. But to regard Hades only as the place of torment for the damned, [2087] is only possible if the plagues indicated in Rev 6:8 are misunderstood as though pertaining to unbelievers alone. The contrary is decided partly by the entire tendency of all four seal-visions, and partly, especially in this place, by the express extension of the dominant power granted death and hell following it, to the fourth part of the earth , and therefore of all inhabitants of the earth, believers who have patiently endured and hoped for the coming of the Lord as well as unbelievers. [2088]
. The schematic number gives the idea of a considerably great portion of the whole; a still greater part is designated by the schematic three. [2089]
, as a designation of the instrument or means, [2090] stands properly with , , and ; while to , as the beasts themselves are active, is attached, [2091] which in other cases also is combined in classical Greek with the active. [2092] The , Rev 6:8 , has as little to do with the , Rev 6:4 , as the concurs with the famine, Rev 6:5-6 ; on the contrary, such means to kill are to be ascribed to Death personally portrayed with Hell, as already in the O. T. are threatened as destructive means of punishment prior to God’s judgment. Because of the juxtaposition of with and , the is readily taken specially as a designation of the plague, especially as the LXX., in similar connections, use where the Heb. text has ; [2093] but if John had wished to designate this precise idea, the expression [2094] would scarcely have escaped him. As in Rev 2:23 , the general conception must be maintained also in this passage, [2095] which also appears the more suitable as the occurs in a certain exclusive way to the two preceding conceptions which are likewise furnished with the prep. , while the attached . . . , as also the change of prep. shows, connects it again with a certain independence to the three preceding conceptions. [See Note XLIX., p. 235.]
[2071] Beda, who mentions especially Arius; Zeger, etc.
[2072] Stern.
[2073] Vitr., C. a Lap.
[2074] N. de Lyra.
[2075] Wetst., Grot., Herd., Bhmer.
[2076] Huschke.
[2077] Cf. Rev 5:3 sqq.
[2078] Cf. Rev 6:5 sqq.
[2079] . LXX.: , Jer 21:7 ; Jer 14:12 .
[2080] Lev 16:22 ; Eze 14:21 .
[2081] “Pestis nomine mortis” (Eichh.).
[2082] Rev 8:7 , Rev 9:4 ; Mar 6:39 .
[2083] Il . vii. 479.
[2084] Pallida mors .
[2085] Eichh., Ebrard.
[2086] Cf. Rev 1:18 , Rev 20:13 sqq.
[2087] Hengstenb.
[2088] Beng., Ew.
[2089] Rev 8:7 .
[2090] Cf. Rev 2:16 .
[2091] Cf. Ew., De Wette.
[2092] Matth., Ausfhr. Griech. Gramm. , 592.
[2093] Vitr., Beng., De Wette, etc.
[2094] Mat 24:7 .
[2095] Hengstenb., Ebrard.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XLIX. Rev 6:2-8
Alford regards the four seals, in their fulness, as contemporaneous, the not being accomplished until the entire earth is subjugated, although “they may receive continually recurring, or even ultimate, fulfilments, as the ages of the world go on, in distinct periods of time, and by distinctly assignable events. So far, we may derive benefit from the commentaries of those who imagine that they have discovered their fulfilment in successive periods of history, that, from the very variety and discrepancy of the periods assigned by them, we may verify the facts of the prevalence of these announced judgments hitherto, throughout the whole lifetime of the Church.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(7) And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. (8) 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.
Here, at the opening by Christ, of the fourth seal, we have the end, for the present, of the ministry of the Beasts and we hear no more of them until the pouring out of the Vials, at Rev 15:7 , and then, but one of them. I do not presume to speak decidedly concerning them, but by their kind invitation to John, at the opening of each seal, to come and see, I am inclined to consider them, as representing ministers in the Church. We find their number four, in their place as before, and again towards the close of this Book of God, worshipping, Rev 19:4 .
This pale horse, and death upon him, closeth up the judgments. Indeed, death, as it relates to the present world, is a final close to all. But here was the awfulness of this judgment, hell followed. The Lord had said by his servant the Prophet, that he would bring his four sore judgments upon Jerusalem; the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, Eze 14:21 . But here, the tremendous addition at the opening of this fourth seal, in hell following death, gives the finishing stroke to misery, and sums up all in everlasting woe!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
Ver. 7. See Trapp on “ Rev 6:3 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7, 8 .] And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living-being saying, Come (see above on Rev 6:1 ). And I saw, and behold a livid horse ( , originally and properly grass-green, when used of flesh implies that greenish pallor which we know as livid : the colour of the corpse in incipient decay, or of the complexion extremely pale through disease. Thus Thucyd. in describing the symptoms of the plague at Athens, says that the body was , , . Callistratus, as quoted in Wetst. says, . Hippocrates, ibid. says of the colour, , . And again, in describing the symptoms of approaching death, , , . . See also Wetst.’s other quotations), and he that sat upon him ( , lit. on the top of him : in the three other cases, . The nominative is pendent, see ch. Rev 3:12 ; Rev 3:21 ) his name was Death (i. e. he was death personified. In this case only of the four is the explanation given. It is wrong to understand Pestilence by this : see below), and Hades (the impersonation of the place of the departed: see ch. Rev 1:18 , Rev 20:14 , where as here go together. Eichhorn and Ebrard understand it of the whole multitude of the departed: but this clearly is beside the purpose: personification being the prevailing character of these four riders) was following with him (in his train: ready to engulf and detain his victims), and there was given to them (Death and Hades, considered as joint partners in the baleful work) power over the fourth part of the earth ( with accus., as extending over, spreading over , , perhaps owing to the fourfold division of these former seals: not implying thereby that this last rider divided the earth with the three former, but thus specifying his portion as being one of four. At all events this suggests itself here as a possible reference of the number four: whereas in ch. 8 the continually recurring has no such assignable solution. The expositors for the most part pass it over, merely as signifying a considerable portion. Elliott, with whose historical interpretation it will not square, takes refuge in the reading of the vulg., “super quatuor partes terr”), to kill with (the of investiture , expressing the element or vehicle in which the action transpires) sword and with famine and with death (i. e. here, pestilence : see below), and by ( , seeing that the other three were rather general indications of the manner in which, but this last of the actual agent by whose administration. Wetst. gives examples of , , , but the construction with an active verb is not common. See Matthi, 592, who gives, besides ref., Eurip. Alcest. 753, , Plato, Phileb. p. 320, , and Thuc. vi. 32, . It is singular that these examples should all belong to the same description of employment of agents) the wild beasts of the earth (the enumeration comprehends the “ four sore judgments ” enumerated in Eze 14:21 , and in the same terms: , . This fixes the meaning of this second and subordinate as above.
This seal also is interpreted as above by the earliest Commentators: e. g. Victorinus: “Hc eadem quoque inter cteras clades prmiserat Dominus, venturas pestes magnas et mortalitates.” But as on the third seal, so here also, he goes off into vague allegory about the latter part of the vision).
We have now passed the four first seals, after which the character of the vision changes. One feature common to these four is, Personification: the representation of processions of events by the impersonation of their leading features. Another is, the share which the four living-creatures bear in the representation, which after this point ceases, as far as the seals are concerned. No interpretation can be right, which does not take both these common features into account. And in my view this may best be done by viewing, as above, these four visions as the four solemn preparations for the coming of the Lord as regards the visible Creation, which these four living-beings symbolize. The whole Creation demands His coming. , is the cry of all its tribes. This cry is answered, first by the vision of the great Conqueror, whose arrows are in the heart of his enemies, and whose career is the world’s history. The breaking of this first seal is the great opening of the mystery of God. This in some sense includes and brings in the others. Those others then, as we might expect, hold a place subordinate to this. They are, in fact, but exponents of the mysteries enwrapt within this conquering career: visions of the method of its being carried out to the end in its operation on the outward world. That the world-wide declaration of the everlasting Gospel should be accompanied by war, by famine, by pestilence, and other forms of death, had been announced by our Lord Himself ( Mat 24:7 ), and is now repeated in this series of visions. The fulfilment of each of these judgments is, as it were, the removing a seal from the book of God’s mysterious purposes: the bringing nearer of the time when that book shall be open for all the redeemed to read.
With regard to the question whether these four visions are to be regarded as consecutive or contemporaneous, I have already expressed an opinion. In their fulness , I believe them to be contemporaneous, and each of them to extend through the whole lifetime of the church. The analogy of the whole four symbols seems to require this. We read nothing implying that there are “days” of the opening of any particular seal, as there are, ch. Rev 10:7 , of the sounding of the several trumpets. The of the first seal speaks of a purpose which will not be accomplished till the earth be all subjugated: and if I am right in supposing the other visions subordinate to this, their agency is necessarily included in its process. At the same time I would by no means deny that they may receive continually recurring, or even ultimate fulfilments, as the ages of the world go on, in distinct periods of time, and by distinctly assignable events. So far we may derive benefit from the Commentaries of those who imagine that they have discovered their fulfilment in successive periods of history, that, from the very variety and discrepancy of the periods assigned by them, we may verify the fact of the prevalence of these announced judgments, hitherto, throughout the whole lifetime of the Church.
As regards ultimate fulfilment, there can be no doubt, that all these judgments on the world without, as well as the manifestation (of which they form a part) of the conquering career of the Kingdom of Christ, will reach their culminating point before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. I may add, that no account whatever is taken, in the common historic interpretation, of the distinctive character of the four first seals, as introduced by the cry of the four living-beings: nor indeed is any interpretation commonly given of that cry itself.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 6:7-8 . The fourth seal opened pestilence and mortality .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 6:7-8
7When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” 8I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Rev 6:8
NASB”an ashen horse”
NKJV”a pale horse”
NRSV”pale green horse”
TEV”a pale-colored horse”
NJB”deathly horse”
The term “pale” referred to a yellowish green or off-white color. In English we get the word “chlorine” from this Greek word. It was possibly the color of a dead body. Because of the list of the means of death in Rev 6:8, this may refer to those killed or eaten by wild animals, which was one of the OT curses (cf. Lev 26:22; Jer 15:3; Eze 5:17; Eze 14:21).
“he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following” This is an OT allusion to Pro 5:5 or Hos 13:14. It is a personification of the terms for the termination of physical life. These two terms are used three times together in the Revelation (cf. Rev 1:18; Rev 20:13-14).
The term “Hades” is synonymous to the OT term “Sheol,” which meant “the holding place of the dead.” See SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead? at Rev 1:18.
“Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth” Notice the pronoun “them” refers to all four horses and their riders. There is an intensification of the judgment in the trumpets (i.e.,one third, cf. Rev 8:7-8; Rev 8:10; Rev 8:12); there is complete destruction in the bowls (cf. Rev 16:1-21). These fractions are a literary device to show that God’s judgments had a redemptive purpose (cf. Rev 9:20-21; Rev 14:7; Rev 16:9; Rev 16:11), but fallen, rebellious, hardened mankind would not respond (although a few may have, cf. Rev 11:13).
“to kill with” These four horsemen represent the OT covenant judgments (cf. Lev 26:21-26; Jer 15:2-3; Jer 24:10; Jer 27:8; Jer 29:17-18; Jer 32:24; Jer 32:36; Jer 34:17; Eze 5:12; Eze 5:17; Eze 14:21; Amo 4:6-10). The term for “sword” is different from Rev 6:4. This refers to the large battle sword, hromphaia. All four of the OT judgments of war, famine, plague, and wild animals are listed in Lev 26:21-26 and Eze 14:21. These covenant judgments are clearly discussed in Deuteronomy 27-29. Remember, originally their purpose was to cause Israel to repent and turn back to YHWH. They function in that same redemptive sense here (cf. Rev 9:20-21; Rev 11:13; Rev 14:7; Rev 16:9; Rev 16:11).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
7, 8.] And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living-being saying, Come (see above on Rev 6:1). And I saw, and behold a livid horse (, originally and properly grass-green, when used of flesh implies that greenish pallor which we know as livid: the colour of the corpse in incipient decay, or of the complexion extremely pale through disease. Thus Thucyd. in describing the symptoms of the plague at Athens, says that the body was , , . Callistratus, as quoted in Wetst. says, . Hippocrates, ibid. says of the colour, , . And again, in describing the symptoms of approaching death,- , , . . See also Wetst.s other quotations), and he that sat upon him ( , lit. on the top of him: in the three other cases, . The nominative is pendent, see ch. Rev 3:12; Rev 3:21) his name was Death (i. e. he was death personified. In this case only of the four is the explanation given. It is wrong to understand Pestilence by this : see below), and Hades (the impersonation of the place of the departed: see ch. Rev 1:18, Rev 20:14, where as here go together. Eichhorn and Ebrard understand it of the whole multitude of the departed: but this clearly is beside the purpose: personification being the prevailing character of these four riders) was following with him (in his train: ready to engulf and detain his victims), and there was given to them (Death and Hades, considered as joint partners in the baleful work) power over the fourth part of the earth ( with accus., as extending over, spreading over, , perhaps owing to the fourfold division of these former seals: not implying thereby that this last rider divided the earth with the three former, but thus specifying his portion as being one of four. At all events this suggests itself here as a possible reference of the number four: whereas in ch. 8 the continually recurring has no such assignable solution. The expositors for the most part pass it over, merely as signifying a considerable portion. Elliott, with whose historical interpretation it will not square, takes refuge in the reading of the vulg., super quatuor partes terr), to kill with (the of investiture, expressing the element or vehicle in which the action transpires) sword and with famine and with death (i. e. here, pestilence: see below), and by (, seeing that the other three were rather general indications of the manner in which, but this last of the actual agent by whose administration. Wetst. gives examples of , , , but the construction with an active verb is not common. See Matthi, 592, who gives, besides ref., Eurip. Alcest. 753, ,-Plato, Phileb. p. 320, ,-and Thuc. vi. 32, . It is singular that these examples should all belong to the same description of employment of agents) the wild beasts of the earth (the enumeration comprehends the four sore judgments enumerated in Eze 14:21, and in the same terms: , . This fixes the meaning of this second and subordinate as above.
This seal also is interpreted as above by the earliest Commentators: e. g. Victorinus: Hc eadem quoque inter cteras clades prmiserat Dominus, venturas pestes magnas et mortalitates. But as on the third seal, so here also, he goes off into vague allegory about the latter part of the vision).
We have now passed the four first seals, after which the character of the vision changes. One feature common to these four is, Personification: the representation of processions of events by the impersonation of their leading features. Another is, the share which the four living-creatures bear in the representation, which after this point ceases, as far as the seals are concerned. No interpretation can be right, which does not take both these common features into account. And in my view this may best be done by viewing, as above, these four visions as the four solemn preparations for the coming of the Lord as regards the visible Creation, which these four living-beings symbolize. The whole Creation demands His coming. , is the cry of all its tribes. This cry is answered, first by the vision of the great Conqueror, whose arrows are in the heart of his enemies, and whose career is the worlds history. The breaking of this first seal is the great opening of the mystery of God. This in some sense includes and brings in the others. Those others then, as we might expect, hold a place subordinate to this. They are, in fact, but exponents of the mysteries enwrapt within this conquering career: visions of the method of its being carried out to the end in its operation on the outward world. That the world-wide declaration of the everlasting Gospel should be accompanied by war, by famine, by pestilence, and other forms of death, had been announced by our Lord Himself (Mat 24:7), and is now repeated in this series of visions. The fulfilment of each of these judgments is, as it were, the removing a seal from the book of Gods mysterious purposes: the bringing nearer of the time when that book shall be open for all the redeemed to read.
With regard to the question whether these four visions are to be regarded as consecutive or contemporaneous, I have already expressed an opinion. In their fulness, I believe them to be contemporaneous, and each of them to extend through the whole lifetime of the church. The analogy of the whole four symbols seems to require this. We read nothing implying that there are days of the opening of any particular seal, as there are, ch. Rev 10:7, of the sounding of the several trumpets. The of the first seal speaks of a purpose which will not be accomplished till the earth be all subjugated: and if I am right in supposing the other visions subordinate to this, their agency is necessarily included in its process. At the same time I would by no means deny that they may receive continually recurring, or even ultimate fulfilments, as the ages of the world go on, in distinct periods of time, and by distinctly assignable events. So far we may derive benefit from the Commentaries of those who imagine that they have discovered their fulfilment in successive periods of history, that, from the very variety and discrepancy of the periods assigned by them, we may verify the fact of the prevalence of these announced judgments, hitherto, throughout the whole lifetime of the Church.
As regards ultimate fulfilment, there can be no doubt, that all these judgments on the world without, as well as the manifestation (of which they form a part) of the conquering career of the Kingdom of Christ, will reach their culminating point before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. I may add, that no account whatever is taken, in the common historic interpretation, of the distinctive character of the four first seals, as introduced by the cry of the four living-beings: nor indeed is any interpretation commonly given of that cry itself.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 6:7-8
4. THE FOURTH SEAL OPENED
Rev 6:7-8
7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come.–See notes on verse 1.
8 And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; –Here, as in the other three seals, the horse appears, indicating that the idea of war is still in the symbols. But the imagery is changed. The rider is no longer in the form of a person, carrying some implements, but Death, personified, is said to be seated on the horse. Death represented as a tyrant reigning is a figure of speech found in other books of the Bible. (Rom 5:14; Rom 6:9; 1Co 15:55.) The emblem shows Death as a soldier gaining great victories over all efforts at resistance that man might make. The term “pale” applied to the horse probably was intended to represent the color of a body in death. All this would show the power of death over men, and the effect it would have on the empire, and on the church because it was at that time under the Roman dominion.
and Hades followed with him.–Hades literally means the “unseen” and applies to the place of the dead. The idea seems to be that so many would die that even the place of the dead would appear to be before John in the emblem. Or that Hades would follow to take those who had been killed.
And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.–Authority was given “unto them”–that is, to Death and Hades. This means that Death would have a broad sway–many would die –and they would pass to the intermediate state. Commentators interpret the “fourth part” asmeaning a considerable or great number, or in all quarters of the Roman Empire, or that it was not to be universal. The first seems the more likely, for definite numbers are often used for an indefinite amount, and it is not at all probable that exactly one-fourth part would be affected. The “earth,” doubtless, meant the territory governed by the Romans.
The remainder of the verse tells the means by which Death, ruling as an emperor, would reach so many. To “kill with sword” would include those who would die in murders and assassinations as well as wars. Others would die in famines. This is different from the third seal where the symbol showed only a scarcity of food. Another statement is that they would be killed “with death.” Since Death, personified, is represented as riding the horse, the word “death” here probably has a different meaning. To kill with death is at least an awkward expression. The margin says pestilence. The meaning is that plagues of various kinds would destroy many. It is immaterial whether the expression “wild beasts” be understood literally or as referring to the insatiable, bloodthirsty tyrants that would murder without mercy. In sections infested with wild beasts, they would become more dangerous when the country had been despoiled by war and famines. The point is that great numbers would be killed through the various means mentioned.
As suggested regarding the third seal, it is doubtless unnecessary to limit the application of this vision to the reign of any one emperor. From A.D. 192 to 284 has already been alluded to as a period of internal strife in the Roman Empire. As the third vision seems to fit the time of Caracalla, A.D. 211-217, so this vision will harmonize with the period of Gallienus, A.D. 260-268, as a time in which events most strikingly fit the requirements of the symbol. Gibbon declares that the empire at that time was attacked on every side by the “blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild ambition of domestic usurpers.” He also says: “But the whole period was one uninterrupted series of confusion and calamity.” (Decline and Fall, Vol. I, p. 299.) One more quotation from Gibbon will suffice. He said: “But a long and general famine was a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable consequence of rapine and oppression which extirpated the produce of the present, and the hope of the future harvests. . . . Other causes must, however, have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year two hundred and fifty to the year two hundred and sixty-five, raged without interruption to every province, every city, and almost every family, of the Roman Empire. During some time five thousand persons died daily in Rome; and many towns, that had escaped the hands of the barbarians, were entirely depopulated.” (Ibid., p. 329.) If inspiration had intended to describe that period, no symbol, it seems, could have been better suited to the purpose than that revealed by the fourth seal. The probability is that it was at least included in what the symbol was intended to represent.
If the reigns of Caracalla and Gallienus are not the periods to fulfill the third and fourth symbols, it must be that some other periods in that general age of the world did; the lessons would be the same even if the exact periods and events are not definitely located. These two are suggested as possessing a high degree of probability. As already mentioned regarding the third seal, the fourth indicates results that follow devastating warfare, and the language would fit any such period of time. But the seals’ place in the record shows the probability of their closely following the second seal–the time of internal strife in the Roman Empire. If that is true, the suggestion made in this paragraph is doubtless correct.
Commentary on Rev 6:1-8 by Foy E. Wallace
THE OPENING OF THE SEVEN SEALS
The ominous announcement-Rev 6:1.
The Lamb opened: Christ the Lamb, the only one
able to open, begins in order the opening of the seven seals.
The noise of thunder: The voice of one of the creatures (beings) announced the opening, with a noise like thunder. It signified the ominous import of the announcement, the awesome note of what was about to be revealed.
Come and see: This meant that the announcer was ready to show unto John what was to occur successively in the struggle with and overthrow of persecuting powers.
he mounted horses – Horse #1-Rev 6:2.
The horse is portrayed in the Old Testament as the noblest of animals. (Gen 49:17; Job_3919-25) The beasts of burden were oxen and asses, horses were warriors, reserved for the arsenals of war, used by kings, either mounted or harnessed to chariots. (Exo 9:23; Est 6:8) Solomon imported them from Syria and Egypt. (1Ki 4:26; 1Ki 10:26; 1Ki 10:29; 2Ch 1:14-17; 2Ch 9:25) They were here in the apocalypse employed under different colors to represent the character of the event as Zec 1:8; Zec 6:2-6, and to signify the fleetness and the strength to represent angels.
Before Solomons time no horsemen were mentioned in the armies of Israel. The kings were forbidden to keep many horses (Deu 17:16), as a military disarmament plan to prevent oppression and tyranny; and as a domestic policy to prevent unnecessary burdens on the people by the imposition of taxes; and further to discourage trust in horses and chariots by Israels kings, who were exhorted to put their trust in God. (Psa 20:7) Solomon had horses in great number, which he kept for pomp rather than war. He is said to have had forty thousand stalls for his horses and chariots. It appears that Solomon specialized in horses and wives !
Among the heathen, horses were consecrated to the sun idol (2Ki 23:11); for the worship of the sun by the easterns prevailed for many centuries, and the horse was consecrated to that deity over all the east. The sun-god was represented as riding his chariot drawn by the swiftest and most beautiful horses, completing every day the journey from east to west, for the communication of light to all mankind.
It is worthy of note that the secrets and ceremonies of some fraternal orders today, a certain one in particular, based on the ancient mysteries surrounding the god and goddess of the sun, Osiris and Isis, are not far removed from this ancient deism.
At one time the Lord forbade the kings of Judah to multiply horses as an embargo measure to prevent trade between Judah and Israel, fearing that by means of commerce, as a system of communication, Israel would become infected with the Egyptian idolatries.
In the Old Testament apocalypses, as in Revelation, the symbols of the horse and its rider were the most graphic, if not the most moving imagery. The striking resemblance in the vision of horses, in the first chapter of Zechariah, to that of the four horses in the sixth chapter of Revelation, parallels the historical events in the fortunes of Old Testament Israel with the corresponding experiences of the New Testament church.
The white horse (the first seal)-Rev 6:2.
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 white horse and its rider were a symbol of the invincible Lord; riding a white horse was the symbol of majesty in a war of victory.
He (the Christ) that sat on him had a bow: The bow was for distance signifying a long conflict; the sword symbolized the clash of combat in the surge of battle. In the ancient armor, the arms of war were the shield, the sword, the spear and the bow. The bow was the instrument for shooting the arrow. This slender combustible missile shot from the bow was the chief dependence in attack and defence. David refers to the sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. (Psa 120:4) The fire from combustible juniper wood was conveyed on the arrow tip to its target, and became a symbol of terror from God. (Psa 38:2; Job 6:4) Along with lightning, thunder and famine, it was employed as a symbol of divine judgment. (2Sa 22:15) As a metaphor of the penetrating power of truth the arrow symbolized the word of God. David refers to sharp arrows in hearts causing men to yield to the sceptre of righteousness. (Psa 45:4-7) In the same figure the bow stands for fidelity and strength, as in Gen 49:24, and Psa 44:6. In the hand of the rider of the white horse the bow was the symbol of all these characters of conflict.
A crown was given unto him: This is a significant description as it is noteworthy that Vespasian who initiated, and Titus who executed, the Jewish war both received the imperial crown.
He went forth conquering, and to conquer: The conquest of Christ was not spontaneous, intermittent or spasmodic; it did not consist in single victories; it was a continuous, progressive conquest of hearts which no might could defeat.
The red horse (second seal)-Rev 6:3-4.
The color of each horse corresponds to the mission of its rider. In the symbol of colors red stands for bloodshed; the rider was the persecutor waging war against Christ and his church. This rider had power, and political authority, to take peace from the earth. This symbolized the dwelling place of the nations. The statement that they should kill one another, meant the war of the Jews against Jews, their own flesh and blood kindred. This phase of events was described in Mat 24:10 in foretelling the Jewish persecutions, the hostilities of the unbelieving Jews against their Jewish kinsmen who professed faith in Christ.
And there was given unto him a great sword. To the rider of the red steed of bloodshed and war, a great sword was given, in contrast with the bow, signifying a closer, bitter, relentless and bloody struggle. It was an intensified view of the events in successive symbols.
The sword has connotations of both civil authority and military might. Even when it is used as a metaphor for the word of God it is a function of war against sin in the soul and the rebellion of the heart against the will of God. (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12) Moses used the sword as a metaphor of war. I will punish you for your sins, I will bring the sword upon you, (Lev 26:24-25), which meant that God would cause war to come upon them. Ye shall be delivered into hands of enemies, he said. Paul used the sword to signify the authority of government. For he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Rom 13:4) God has ordained the rightful power of government to punish evildoers and defend the good. Jesus used the sword to symbolize capital punishment. Put up thy sword into its place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. (Mat 26:52) They that take the sword by their own authority, assuming unto themselves the prerogative of vengeful justice, deserve to be put to death by the sword of authority. It is stated in Gen 9:6 : “Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed. That was and yet is the universal law of requital.
The great sword given to the rider of the red horse was not the sword of government, but the sword of persecution. It was a great sword in significance, the survival of the church was involved, the gospel was at stake. It was great in extent–the whole Jewish and Roman world were drawing the sword against the church. It was a great sword in effect–resulting in the martyrdom of the followers of Christ, who would not yield to the coercion of conscience, when their testimony for the truth was sealed by the blood of witnesses; who trusted to the power of the truth, against the sword of persecution, for the success of the cause of the Lamb; and for the universal expansion of Christianity through the blood of its adherents.
The black horse (third seal)-Rev 6:5-6.
The black horse was the color of distress, the portent of terror in the approaching calamity. It compares with the Old Testament figure in Joe 2:6 : The people shall be much pained, all faces gather blackness; and in Nah 2:10 : The faces of them all gather blackness; and in Jer 8:21 : For the hurt of my people am I hurt, I am black. Jud 1:13 refers to the blackness of darkness forever. It is the picture of the grim, dread calamity of famine in the land.
The balances in the hand of the rider were scales and measures and indicated the scarcity in the land; the strict and small allowance of food to be issued by minute measure or exact weight with legislated care. It compares with Mat 24:7, where Jesus foretold the famine that prevailed during the siege of Jerusalem.
The voice in the midst of the four beasts (or beings) was in repetition of the voices heard in the visions, and impressed the hidden source of the revelations, adding to the portentous element of its apocalyptic character. The sound of this voice came from the midst of the four beings; hence, from within deep recesses of the throne, since the beings were in the midst of the throne; it was a voice of solemn authority, requiring reverence and heed.
The measures of wheat and barley for a penny were according to the standard of the time. A measure of wheat was equal to approximately one quart. The penny is a translation of the Greek denarius, which the Bible Dictionaries say was equivalent to fifteen or twenty cents, and represented a regular full days wages. The price for a measure of wheat, or a quart, in this vision amounted to a whole days wages, and was therefore an extortionate price, the payment of a full days work. (Mat 20:2) Three measures of barley were less than a gallon for a days wages, which indicates the extreme scarcity in the usually common and plentiful sources of food.
The command to hurt not the oil and the wine was addressed to the rider of the black horse, holding the scales and measures, not to suppress the oil and the wine. The oil was an extract from olives and spices, having many uses in both the Old and New Testaments. It was used in the preparation of food (Exo 29:2; Lev 2:4); for illumination, or lamps (Exo 25:6; Mat 25:3); for medicinal remedies (Isa 1:6; Mar 6:13); for a divine confection in the various legal and religious ceremonies and appointments. (Exo 30:25; Eze 28:14). The use of oil signified joy; the omission of it was a token of sorrow. (Psa 92:10; 2Sa 14:2; Mat 6:17) The wine has been the subject of sundry and divers views, based on variations of the Hebrew and Greek words; but it is a well known fact that the characteristic common to all wine is that of an exhilarating beverage. Its misuse is severely condemned in both testaments and in some cases and places expressly forbidden. The word is used to denote abundance of temporal good things (Gen 27:28-37); and as a type of spiritual blessings (Isa 55:1); and as alleviation of trouble and sorrow (Pro 31:6).
In the vision of the red horse, the voice commanded the rider not to hurt the oil and the wine, not to limit or ration the oil and the wine; though famine would dissipate all other commodities, oil and wine would be undiminished. It was evidently the symbol of the providential alleviation of suffering and mitigation of sorrow–with oil and wine he would bind up their wounds. It was the voice of promise in the midst of the living creatures, from within the throne, that the ransomed of the Lord should come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing would flee away.
The pale horse (fourth seal)-Rev 6:7-8.
The color of pale was the symbol of death. This seal is specifically called a death procession, but was not a martyr scene. It signifies death by the destructive forces of the sword (war); of hunger (famine); of death (pestilence or disease); and of wild beasts (devoured or ravished).
By the sword–as the instrument employed by the rider of the pale horse to accomplish his work of destruction–he is represented as having power to kill. It symbolized the weapon of war waged against Jerusalem. Hunger is the blight of famine, and is descriptive of the mass starvation that prevailed during the siege of Jerusalem. Pestilence is the terror of death by ravishing disease, which also prevailed in the destruction and siege of Jerusalem. The beasts of this symbol do not refer to wild animals, as usually considered, but to cannibalism, as men turned beasts to ravish and devour each other and even to eat the flesh of their children. It occurred during the siege of Jerusalem, according to Jesus in Mat 24:6-8 and according to the eye witness accounts of Josephus and Pliny.
It is declared that death and hell followed the rider of the pale horse. The word is hades, and refers to the domain of death, the realm of the departed, the unseen world of disembodied spirits, the subterranean abode of the dead. There are important distinctions in the uses of hell in the old English text. To translate Gehenna and Hades in the same word hell has had the effect of obliterating the difference between the place of eternal torment and the temporary abode of the dead. Since the descent of Christ into Hades, as described by the psalmist David, in Psa 16:10 and by the apostle Peter in Act 2:29, no one prepared for the eventuality of death need fear entrance into this realm nor the passage through it. He who was dead and is alive, holds the keys of death and hades, and from that fear he delivers us. (Heb 2:14)
The rider of the pale horse was death, and hades was his companion–it followed with him. They were joined together as associates in the dark and ghastly mission of grim Reapers, in the role assigned to them in these seals.
To Death and Hades was given power over fourth part of earth: To the rider Death, and his colleague Hades, this power was given by the four creatures; it was the authority to kill by the means named–war, famine, pestilence and ravishment over the fourth part of the earth. The earth is the place of the nations in the vision; and this assignment is made by the fourth beast in the fourth seal, to the fourth rider, of the fourth horse, and his division of work was a fourth part in this pageant of devastation. Elsewhere in the scenes are found the expressions third part and tenth part, apparently intended as proportionate figures of the vast destruction, but without geographical or mathematical significance.
The scene of the four horses and riders is a panorama of the war on Jerusalem in a fourfold set of events, an extension of twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. They represent one set of events, not separate figures for separated periods or ages of the world, such as war in one age, famine in another century, carnage in another generation, and with a final fantastic millennium in the end of the world. It is a combined series fulfilled in one period as foretold by Jesus in Mat 24:34. The conquest of the victorious rider of the white horse through the bow could not be accomplished without the war on Jerusalem. The red horse of war could not perform without the black horse of famine, or without the pale horse of death in immediate pursuit. To separate the seals by centuries of time is to destroy the entire imagery.
The records of Mat 24:1-51, Mar 13:1-37, and Luk 21:1-38, concerning Jerusalem, are counterparts of the seals of Revelation. The works of Josephus on the Palestinian wars give historical fulfillment in the account of the bloody war of the Jews and the siege of Jerusalem. The historical parallels in the history of the Roman empire by Edward Gibbon is a virtual commentary on the book Revelation, in the portion covering the period of the Roman war against Jerusalem. Truly, these things must have shortly come to pass, and verily was the time at hand.
Commentary on Rev 6:1-8 by Walter Scott
THE FIRST SEAL.
PECULIARITIES.
Rev 6:1-2. – And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as in a voice of thunder, Come. And I saw, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon it having a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering, and that he might conquer. The judgments under the Seals and Trumpets are not contemporaneous, but successive. The former cover a larger area than the Trumpets, but these latter, on the other hand, are more severe and searching in character.
Observe, too, that the Lamb is connected with the Seals, the angels with the Trumpets, and God with the Vials or Bowls of wrath.
In this preliminary announcement of coming judgment there is a fulness and precision of statement not found in the opening of the remaining six Seals, or even in the first Trumpet and first Vial. Here the cardinal one is alone used, and not the ordinal first, etc., as in all the others.
And I saw is uttered twice. John was an intensely observant eye-witness. He saw the act of the Lamb in opening the Seal (Rev 6:1). He also saw the minister of judgment (Rev 6:2).
The various colored horses in the first four Seals represent in symbol the human agencies employed in the execution of these judgments on earth, which are providential in character. But as Christians having the mind of Christ, i.e., the discerning faculty, we look behind the mere historical course of events and trace all to the unseen source, God Himself. So the living creatures, the executive of the throne, successively call on the human instruments of vengeance to execute their divinely-appointed task. They cannot move in judgment till summoned by the throne to do so. What a strength to the heart in days of evil! The first four Seals are characterized by the living creatures and horses. In the remaining three there is no mention made of either.
In the first Seal only a living creature speaks, as in a voice of thunder, and at once the first prophetic event foretold in the Apocalypse comes into view. Prophecy opens.
The words in Rev 6:1; Rev 6:3; Rev 6:5; Rev 6:7, and see, should be omitted, as in the Revised Version. With this Tregelles, Kelly, and others agree.(Some consider the deletion of the words, especially in verse 1, a doubtful matter, but the question is, we judge, satisfactorily answered by the writer of the exposition of The Revelation in Bishop Ellicotts New Testament Commentary: The words and see are doubtful. They are found in some MSS. and omitted in others; the authority for their omission and for their retention is about equally divided. Under these circumstances we may fairly be guided by the context. To whom is the summons addressed? Who is bidden to come? If it was taken to be addressed to the Seer we can understand why some copyist should add the words and see. But are they addressed to the Seer? It seems difficult to see the purpose of such a command. He was near already. He had seen the Lamb opening the Seal. There was no object in his drawing near. Are the words then addressed, as Alford supposes, to Christ? It is difficult to believe that the living creature would thus cry to the Lamb who was opening the scroll. The simplest way of answering the question is to ask another: Who did come in obedience to the voice? There is but one answer: The horseman. The living beings cry, Come, and their cry is responded to by the appearance of the several riders.) The retention of the words would make it a call to John to come and see, but why the incongruity of speaking to him in a voice of thunder? Their deletion makes the Come a summons to the human instrument employed in these earthly chastisements.
THE LOUD SUMMONS AND ITS IMMEDIATE ANSWER.
The response to the loud and imperative command of the living creature was instantly obeyed. And behold a white horse, and him that sat upon it. A war-horse is evidently referred to. Now the horseman cannot, as the mass of expositors allege, signify Christ on a career of conquest. Psa 45:1-17, and especially Rev 19:11, have been confidently alleged in proof of the application of the first Seal to Christ. But both the Psalmist and the Seer direct us to Christ in that grand moment of His Coming to assume the sovereignty of the world, whereas the first Seal epoch refers to a time some years before the introduction of the kingdom in power. In chapter 19 the rider is named; here he is not named. From what part of the earth the Seal horseman emerges we are not informed. We have here a symbol of conquering power. A white horse denotes victorious power. It points to the advent on the prophetic scene of a power bent on conquest. A career of unchecked, brilliant, yet almost bloodless victory lies before this coming royal warrior of worldwide fame. A Cyrus, an Alexander, or a Napoleon in triumphs and conquests, but without bloodshed and slaughter, is the horse and rider of the first Seal.
Having a bow. (When active warfare with the bow and arrow is in question, then the latter is specifically mentioned (Num 24:8; Psa 45:5 : Zec 9:14, etc.). But here nothing is said as to the bow being strung or ready for action (Lam 2:4), but simply the white horse rider has it. Bloodless victory is the main idea.) The returned Jews from Babylon in the rebuilding of Jerusalem were armed with swords, their spears, and their bows (Neh 4:13). Hand-to-hand conflict demands the use of the sword; a little distance off the spear would be required; while more distant warfare is expressed by the bow. This latter weapon would not do much execution: hence its employment as a symbol of war afar off, and that not of a very deadly character.
A crown was given to him. This must be more than the chaplet of victory bestowed on the conqueror at the close of a successful campaign, for here the crown is given ere victory is spoken of. Imperial or royal dignity is conferred on this distinguished personage before he enters on his wonderful career of conquest.
He went forth conquering, and that he might conquer. Victory after victory, conquest after conquest, without reverse or cessation, marked the royal progress of the hero of the coming day and hour. The symbols under this and the succeeding Seals are simple enough and full of meaning. (In the four horses under the first four Seals there is an evident allusion to the horses of Zec 1:1-21; Zec 6:1-15. In this latter vision the colored horses, red, bay, and white, represent the character and energy of the three imperial powers of Persia, Greece, and Rome. The man riding on the red horse sets forth Cyrus, the renowned Persian, the destroyer of Babylon and deliverer of the Jews, prefiguring Christ, Israels Savior in a coming day, and the Judge of the mystic Babylon. In the latter vision (Zec 6:1-15) the character and geographical course of the four Gentile empires are set forth, empires which effected unknowingly the governmental will of God. The black horses (the Persians) go forth into the north country (Babylon) and destroy it while they in turn are destroyed by the white horses (the Grecians); the grizzled horses (the Romans) establish themselves in the south (v. 6). God grants universal dominion to Rome (v. 7), and rests in the destruction of Babylon (v. 8). The two Babylons, the literal (Jer 51:1-64) and the mystical (Rev 18:1-24), are doomed to utter destruction. Both have held captive the people of God.)
Rev 6:3-4
THE SECOND SEAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECOND SEAL.
Rev 6:3-4. – And when He opened the second Seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. And another, a red horse, went forth; and to him that sat upon it, to him it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another; and there was given to him a great sword. In all the Seal judgments, save the second, the Seer informs us that he was an eye-witness: I saw. Then under the other Seals the word behold precedes the description of the horse, whereas it is here omitted. Instead of behold the word another is added, not found in the other Seals. These may be termed trivial differences, but as we are firm believers in the verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures we are satisfied that there is a divine meaning in these seemingly unimportant details. The occurrence of the words I saw and behold in the first Seal, and their omission in the second, may be accounted for by the fact that the word another in the latter connects the two Seals. Thus I saw, and beholdanother, a red horse.
In answer to the summons, Come, of the second living creature, a red horse went forth. Why red, (A forfeiture of life is figuratively represented by the several colours of red, scarlet, crimson. – Sacred Symbology, by Mills, p. 160.) and what is its special significance? The white horse denotes a series of peaceful victories. The red horse, on the other hand, intimates a period of slaughter and bloodshed (Isa 63:2; Rev 12:3). The rider is unnamed. It is the day of the Lords vengeance on the guilty scene; hence the repetition of the pronoun him, emphasizing the fact that the direct agent of judgment is a man appointed by God for that purpose, to him it was given. Whatever motives or political aspirations may actuate this coming man of blood, yet he is Gods scourge for the time being. A brief time of peace immediately succeeds the translation of the saints to Heaven, and even, as we have seen under the first Seal, the rise and progress of a mighty conqueror will not be marked by much bloodshed. His career of unchecked triumph will scarcely break the general peace. But under the second Seal we track the footsteps of one who strides through the earth on a mission of blood. He has a divine mandate to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another. In his progress he everywhere stirs up the angry passions of men. Ah! little do the governments of Europe dream that in the arming and training of their respective populations those murderous weapons perfected by the applied science of the day shall be used not merely in aggressive or defensive wars, but in civil broils and party conflicts. It is not here nation against nation, but that they should slay one another. The wild passions of men are let loose. A time of mutual slaughter ensues. The authority of the civil power is unavailing to check the riot and bloodshed in cities, towns, and villages, if indeed it does not lend itself to the awful work of destruction. A great sword given to the rider intimates that the broils and commotions which he brings about will be marked by great carnage and bloodshed. War, whether aggressive or defensive, is surely at all times deplorable enough, but a state of open, armed, civil rebellion of man against man, of fellow against fellow, glutting their vengeance and spilling blood like water is infinitely worse than any state of war conceivable, and such is the awful scene portrayed under this Seal.
Rev 6:5-6
THE THIRD SEAL
A FAMINE.
Rev 6:5-6. – And when He opened the third Seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw and behold a black horse, and he that sat upon it having a balance in his hand. And I heard as a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenixes of barley for a denarius; and do not injure the oil and the wine. The white horse is the symbol of power in victory. The red horse denotes power in bloodshed. The black horse intimates power in bringing about a time of lamentation and mourning. Here, as in Zec 6:2, the black horse follows the red. Our skin was black, says the weeping prophet, like an oven because of the terrible famine (see Lam 5:10; Jer 4:28; Jud 1:13, etc., for the symbolic force of this colour).
Various things are predicated of each of the other three horsemen under their respective Seals, but here one thing only. The rider holds a balance in his hand. The two main cereals which constitute the staff of life are to be doled out by weight and sold at famine prices. Wheat and barley are named. The latter grain was generally eaten by slaves and the poor of the people, being much cheaper than the former, and of a coarser nature. The English penny in the Authorized Version, retained in the Revised Version, is misleading. The Roman denarius was equal to about eight-pence of our money; was the daily pay of a soldier, and the daily wage of a laboring man (Mat 20:2). Usually eight measures or choenixes of wheat could be bought for a denarius, but here only one, just barely sufficient, and no more, to sustain life.(* Bread doled out by weight is a marked sign of scarcity (Lev 26:26; Eze 4:10-17). Under this Seal, however, both weight and measure are recognized, but of such a limited character that large numbers of the populations affected thereby must suffer the misery of an actual want of food.) But what about the numbers of aged people, women and children unable to work? If the denarius can only procure the necessary food for one, what about multitudes who through infirmity or other incapacity are unable to work! Must starvation be their bitter experience, and death anticipated as a happy release from the agonies of hunger?
But the living creatures are not themselves the source of this providential chastisement. They are vitally connected with the throne (Rev 4:6), but God is the Sitter thereon, and ever will be. The Seer hears a voice from the very center and throne of the Eternal, the announcement of a famine. God Himself is the source of these preliminary and providential judgments upon men on earth. They are inflicted by Him whoever He may employ as agents in accomplishing His purpose.
THE RICH SPARED.
The prohibition, Do not injure the oil and the wine, is by some supposed to signify a mitigation of the famine as intimated in the preceding declarations. But that can hardly be. People could not subsist on oil and wine. Wheat and barley are essentials. Oil and wine were regarded as luxuries found alone on the tables of the rich (Pro 21:17; Jer 31:12; Psa 104:15). Hence the chastisement under this Seal falls especially on the working classes. The rich, the wealthy, and the governing classes are markedly exempted. But they shall not escape. For under the sixth Seal (Rev 6:12-17) judgment is impartially meted out to all alike, from the monarch down to the slave.
SOCIALISM.
Is there not righteous retribution in the fact that the masses of the people of these and other lands are first visited in judgment, and made to suffer in the very circumstances in which they now seem to triumph? An ominous sign of the times is the spread of Socialism, of the gospel of equality amongst the nations of Europe. The time-honored distinctions of master and servant, of rulers and ruled, are scorned; wealth and social position, with their respective claims, are treated with contempt; and labor and capital are regarded as opposing forces. The working classes are rapidly getting power into their hands, and are not slow in seizing their opportunities, while demanding further rights and privileges. The spirit of insubordination and contempt of authority is abroad. The seed is being sown, the harvest is sure to follow. The masses are here seen suffering from scarcity of the staff of life, while the rich in their affluence and luxuries remain untouched, although doomed to suffer at a later period.
Rev 6:7-8
THE FOURTH SEAL.
DEATH AND HADES.
Rev 6:7-8. – And when He opened the fourth Seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold a pale horse, and he that sat upon it his name (was) Death, and Hades followed with him; and authority was given to him over the fourth of the earth to slay with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Another power is now summoned. These initial judgments are increasing in severity. The pale horse implying a cadaverous hue is the new harbinger of approaching judgment.
In the three preceding Seals the riders are unnamed. Here the name of the horseman is Death. The four Seals turn upon living men; and so death, by which they are carried off, is most prominently represented; but Hell (Hades) only in so far as he receives those who have been cut off by death, acting as deaths hearse, on which account no separate horse is assigned him.(*Bengel as quoted by Hengstenberg.) Hades follows not after, but with death. These two are the respective custodians of the bodies and souls of men. At the close of the thousand years reign they give up their prisoners, and are themselves destroyed, are personified, and cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). Hades refers to that condition immediately following on death, and one which resurrection necessarily closes, the state between death and resurrection. Death and Hades are here used in relation to the ungodly only. The latter word simply means the unseen, and therefore the English term Hell is no just equivalent for Hades. In this vivid description the king of terrors himself appears. The corpse-like color of the horse is in keeping with the name and character of the rider. Death and Hades are inseparable companions. Together they act in judgment and divide the spoil.
GODS FOUR SORE JUDGMENTS.
We are again reminded of the interesting fact that these judgments in their sequence, character, duration, and severity have their source in the throne of God. Authority, we read, was given to him, not to them. The reading him or them is disputed, but internal evidence would decide. Death acts upon living men. Hades claims the souls of the dead. Death necessarily precedes Hades. Death deals with the living, Hades with the dead.
Under the previous Seals one instrument of judgment under each is noted, but here there are four, the four by which Jehovah threatened guilty Jerusalem of old. For thus saith the Lord God, How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? (Eze 14:21). The only difference between them is that in the apocalyptic judgments the beasts are last named; death, too, the third in the list, should be understood as pestilence, as in the margin of the Revised Version. The sword under the second Seal, and hunger under the third, are here reproduced under the fourth Seal coupled with two others. The unsheathed sword in the hands of the remorseless rider will not be withdrawn till its divinely-appointed task is finished. Hunger also will do its deadly work, a more protracted and painful death than by the sword. Then death or pestilence will ply its sickle with fatal effect and reap a full harvest. Lastly, the beasts of the earth will complete the destruction.
Under the previous Seals agricultural pursuits, without which no civilised people can exist, must have been abandoned. The masses under the second Seal were using the sword instead of the ploughshare. The ground would lie untilled, and in the absence of crops starvation would follow as a consequence, and the beasts, leaving their usual haunts, would add to the general misery by preying on men. These four sore judgments, the sword, hunger, pestilence, and beasts are to be in active operation at the same time. They are contemporaneous judgments. To spiritualize them, as many do, to make them speak a language foreign to their simple and natural meaning, is to twist Scripture and not interpret. Thank God that the sphere in which these judgments operate is limited to a fourth of the earth. The then Roman world is spoken of as a third (Rev 12:4). The extent of the sphere of judgment is a circumscribed one. What an awful future lies before the christless populations of these lands!
Commentary on Rev 6:1-8 by Burton Coffman
Rev 6:1
To this point, Revelation has been relatively easy to interpret; but, beginning with this chapter, there are scores of interpretations, with multiple schools of interpreters, following all kinds of bizarre and fanciful “explanations” of what is here written. (See introduction for a discussion of some of the more important methods followed by various groups.) In a sense, one must be accounted rather bold to write confidently of things about which there is so much disagreement; but, on the other hand, there are some things which this writer brings to this study which are by no means universal. First, there is a general knowledge, at least, of what the New Testament teaches; secondly, there is a fundamental rejection of the notion that this sacred prophecy is some kind of hodgepodge cooked up by the apostle John and made up of materials gleaned from “Semitic folklore, Persian elements, Babylonian mythology, the writings of Virgil, Semitic and Hellenic mythology, the Apocrypha, and the Book of Enoch.”[1] Scholars who pursue such an assumption can never know what Revelation means, simply because they are seeking its meaning in the wrong place. Thirdly, there is a deep sense of conviction that no “brand new doctrine,” such as that usually designated as premillennialism, is to be found in the book. In other words, Revelation is considered to be in full and complete harmony with everything else in the New Testament. For example, the one judgment day of the whole New Testament is not a conception here replaced by a multiple series of judgments; but the references which appear to be such are repeated references to the very same judgment day (singular). Fourthly, many of the common pitfalls of supposing: (1) that the whole book refers to a period following the Second Advent; (2) that every line of it has already been fulfilled; (3) that John was restricted to current events in his terminology; (4) that an “Antichrist” is anywhere mentioned in Revelation; or (5) that the various seals, trumpets, bowls, etc., have reference to “successive events” – these and many other common assumptions which mar the works of many are here rejected and avoided.
The general assumptions underlying this interpretation are: (1) that the succeeding series of seals, trumpets, bowls, etc., and “Onward from chapter 6 are a panorama of parallel judgments”;[2] (2) that “The millennium and the present age are one and the same thing”;[3] (3) that the true key to unlocking the mysteries of Revelation must be sought in the Olivet discourse of Jesus (Matthew and parallels), and in other Scriptural passages; (4) that much of the symbolism in Revelation has a double application, just as was clearly the case in the Olivet discourse; (5) that the known fulfillment of a given passage in some historical event now past does not preclude its reference to some final, future event; (6) that the successive mention, for example, of such symbols as the horses (in this chapter) does not mean the reality symbolized by one of them disappeared when the next came to view, but that the various conditions symbolized were probably manifested simultaneously; and (7) that the great landmark by which the whole prophecy can be properly oriented and understood is that of the Second Advent and the simultaneous resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. Without such a “rudder” as this, the interpreter’s ship is doomed to drift in all directions. That such assumptions as these are candidly and confidently made derives from a lifetime of studying the sacred text; and it surely is our prayerful hope that in none of them have we been misled or deceived.
Chapter summary: the opening of the seven seals begins here, with six of them being opened in this chapter. It should be noted that what is revealed following the opening of each seal is not said to be read from the scroll, which is never either opened or read in the whole prophecy. Rather, the contents of it, as far as it pertained to the fortunes of God’s church in the world, were revealed in the visions that promptly succeeded the breaking of each of the seals.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.
Of all those who have discussed this in their books, as far as we have investigated, William Hendriksen has the most thorough and intensive study of it; and the symbol (the white horse and its rider) which dominates these two verses was identified by him with “The Christ”.[4] Although disagreeing with it, Bruce admitted that this “is the long established interpretation”;[5] “many think this”;[6] Roberson,[7] Cox,[8] Wallace,[9] and a very great many others might be cited; but perhaps it is more profitable to point out the reasons behind this view.
1. “The white horse …” The color here is significant, for its contrasts with the colors of the other horses; and nowhere in Revelation is white used otherwise than as a symbol of purity, holiness, glory, etc. “In the book of Revelation, white is never used of anything evil.”[10] The white throne upon which God sits is an example.
2. The choice of a “horse” in this symbolism means “war.” It is a righteous war, for the horse was white, indicating truth and righteousness. “This war began when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, and his disciples began to go everywhere at his command.”[11]
3. The rider wore a crown which was “given to him,” not a crown extorted through the atrocities of war, but a gift of God. A “crown” in the Scriptural sense upon the head of some profane conqueror is impossible to believe. Only Christ fits the picture.
4. The rider on this white horse went forth “conquering and to conquer,” expressions used extensively elsewhere in the New Testament of Christ. “We feel sure that had you never heard another interpretation you would at once have said, `This is the Conquering Christ.'”[12]
5. The conqueror in Revelation 19:11 is also crowned and rides upon a white horse; but he cannot be mistaken. His name is given: “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Can this conqueror be any other? As Roberson said, “All efforts to separate the white horse of this vision from that of Revelation 19:11 are futile.”[13]
Objections to this interpretation are not grounded in a proper understanding of the New Testament. For example, the notion advanced by many to the effect that the other three horsemen all represent judgments, but the conquering Christ is not a judgment, fails to take into account that the preaching of Christ’s gospel is indeed the principal and leading judgment of this earth. “An odor of life unto life in them that are saved, and an odor of death unto death in them that perish” (2 Corinthians 2:16). Christ came to send, not peace, “but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). There is extensive teaching along this vein of thought in the New Testament, and all of it nullifies the objection that “Christ is quite out of place”[14] in this passage. Indeed, he is exactly where he belongs, “leading the van” of the judgments of earth. Furthermore, extensive terminology in the Old Testament corroborates this. See Psalms 45:3-5, Zech. etc. For those interested in a more extensive discussion of this interpretation, see William Hendriksen’s analysis.[15]
The further objection that Christ would not have rushed off on a white horse at the behest of one of the living creatures fails to note that what we have is “a vision.” It is also not inconsistent that Christ both opens the seals and appears in the visions extensively throughout Revelation.
Despite what would appear to be conclusive evidence that the crowned rider on the white horse of the first seal could hardly be any other than the Son of God, he is “interpreted” as the Antichrist,[16] “conquering military power,”[17] “the victory of selfish, lustful conquest,”[18] “the victorious warrior,”[19] etc. Most of the interpretations of this symbol as anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of his holy gospel are firmly grounded in a priori conceptions of such things as the millennium, the parousia, the great tribulation, the rapture, or some other stylized interpretation of the prophecy.
Some little time has been devoted to this opening of the first seal, because the way it is interpreted will color all that follows. For example, if this crowned rider on the white horse with the bow in his hand is understood to mean Jesus Christ and his worldwide program of preaching the gospel, it is clear enough that it cannot possibly refer to some relatively short period of history, but to the entire dispensation reaching from the First Advent to the Second Advent. Thus we confidently interpret it. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).
The reluctance of some to bracket Christ on the first horse with others symbolizing bloodshed, famine, and pestilence is due to a failure to see all four (even the preaching of the gospel) as a divine series of judgments upon mankind. They are operative continuously and simultaneously throughout the earth until the end of time. If it is asked why, then, do they “follow” one after another in the vision; it must be replied, “because they do follow.” The gospel is preached, and the failure to obey its holy teachings causes bloodshed, famine, and death. The great paradox of the Christ is that the Prince of Peace should bring, not peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). The principle inherent in this interpretation is that all human suffering, in the last analysis, is traceable to the fountain source of sin and rebellion against God in human hearts.
[1] James Moffatt, Expositor’s Greek New Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), pp. 388-390.
[2] F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 642.
[3] Jay E. Adams, The Time is at Hand (Nutley, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1977), p. 24.
[4] William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956), p. 113.
[5] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 644.
[6] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1078.
[7] Charles H. Roberson, Studies in Revelation (Tyler, Texas: P. D. Wilmeth, P.O. Box 3305,1957), p. 38.
[8] Frank L. Cox, Revelation in 26 Lessons (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1956), p. 48.
[9] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., The Book of Revelation (Nashville: The Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1966), p. 143.
[10] Jim McGuiggan, The Book of Revelation (West Monroe, Louisiana: William C. Johnson, 1976), p. 77.
[11] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 48.
[12] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 115.
[13] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 38.
[14] William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 3.
[15] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 113-118.
[16] Finis Jennings Dake, Revelation Expounded (Lawrenceville, Georgia: Finis Jennings Dake, 1950), p. 81.
[17] J. W. Roberts, The Revelation of John (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1974), p. 65.
[18] Henry B. Swete, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), p. 67.
[19] Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1919), p. 517.
Rev 6:3
And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. And another horse came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
The interpretation of this and the two following horsemen is clear enough. Practically all students see this one as bloodshed, warfare, and the desolation caused by the sword. One point of difference is grounded upon a different word for “sword” being used in this passage and in Rev 6:8. It could be that the use of a synonym in one place or another has no significance. Swords of all descriptions have been used in warfare throughout history. If a reason is sought, it probably appears in the fact of the Roman sword being in view here, the one used in the times of the apostles.
The word here means the Roman short sword, called great, not because it was disproportionate to the horse and rider, but because of the constant and terrible slaughter it symbolizes.[20]
The Roman short sword was also “great” because it was the triumphant weapon which enabled Roman armies to destroy the ingenious phalanx, the military device perfected and used by Alexander the Great in his conquest of the world. Just as the French crossbow overcame and vanquished the English long bow, the Roman short sword was supreme over every other weapon for an extended period of history.
They should slay one another … Hendriksen applied this to “religious persecution,”[21] but we cannot so limit it. It means all warfare and bloodshed, as evident from the pronoun “they” which cannot indicate the church, and from the further fact that the slaughter of the Christians is given in this same series under the fifth seal, following. Also, there is the pattern of three and four, or four and three, as subdivisions of the numerous sevens in Revelation; and all of these first four judgments are upon the “whole world,” the number four usually being applied to things of the earth and the number three usually being evident when the church is spoken of.
Again the key of understanding is in the Olivet discourse. “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” “This refers to no particular war, but to all war in general.”[22] The history of mankind is hardly anything else other than a record of one brutal conflict after another. Lenski rejected the view that warfare in any sense follows the preaching of the gospel as a consequence; and, in a sense, he is correct. Wars of course existed before the gospel; but they did not exist before sin and rebellion entered Eden. In the sense, therefore, of a rejection of the gospel being a conscious choice of continuing in sin, it is morally true that wars follow.
The historicist view of Revelation continues to be attractive to many people, despite the many objections to it. Barnes’ interpretation of the four seals was:[23]
1seal…..a period of great prosperity for the church until A.D. 180.
2seal…..a period of 92 years beginning with the death of Commodus.
3seal…..a period of excessive taxation prior to A.D. 248.
4th seal…..the period from A.D. 248 to 268, in which half the people on earth (Gibbon) died of famine, pestilence, etc.
Note that the period of “great prosperity” was the period of many persecutions and martyrdoms. Is this great prosperity? In the fourth seal, is it proper to single out a mere 20 years out of nearly 2,000 years, as being entitled to an individual horse in this parade of symbols? Gibbon also wrote that in the great Black Death plague of the mid-fourteenth century, “the moity,” (the majority) of mankind perished. Thus, an event well over a thousand years later is just as good a fulfillment of the fourth seal as the one chosen by Barnes.
All of the things symbolized by the four seals existed in John’s current era, and they have continued to exist ever since. When was there ever a time when the red horse of war’s desolation no longer ravaged the earth? This condition, like that of the continued proclamation of the gospel, will go on until the end of time. Again, from the Olivet discourse: “Wars and rumors of wars … but the end is not yet” (Mat 24:6).
[20] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943), p. 225.
[21] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 120.
[22] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 49.
[23] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1961), pp. 142-146.
Rev 6:5
And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw and behold a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling; and the oil and wine hurt thou not.
Practically all commentators find here a symbol of great “economic difficulty and inequality.[24] The specter of bread being sold by the ounce is enough to make this nearly certain.
The oil and wine hurt thou not … There are two ways of construing these words. Some have seen in them an indication that while wheat and barley are priced almost out of the reach of the poor, the rich still have their oil and wine. As Hendriksen put it, “The rich enjoy their abundance, but the poor have hardly enough to hold body and soul together.”[25] The other view, that of Beckwith, is that the words are “merely intended as a limitation on the severity of the famine.”[26] It is believed that the latter interpretation is correct. (1) It corresponds with the limitation placed upon the pale horse. (2) It is hard to understand why an order from the living creatures should have promulgated an edict favoring the rich. (3) The identification of “oil and wine” as pertaining to the rich only is unsound. “Oil and wine were not luxuries, but part of the basic commodities of life.”[27]
The black horseman of this seal still rides in the world today, the fact being that at perhaps no other time in human history were more people threatened by the specter of starvation than at this very moment. Is the present, therefore, in any exclusive way to be identified with the rider? No. The black horseman has been riding in all generations and will continue to do so until the end. As Lenski said:
Men attempt to abolish war without abolishing the sin, wickedness and injustice in their hearts; so they determine to abolish … injustice and poverty … without abolishing the moral cause back of them. The black horseman is ever riding in the whole world.[28]
[24] Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), p. 71.
[25] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 123.
[26] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 521.
[27] Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), p. 521.
[28] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 229.
Rev 6:7
And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come. And I saw and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
It is wrong to read of these continuing scourges of war, famine, and disease as if they were, in any sense, unlimited. The oil and wine were not to be hurt under the black horse, and in the case of the pale horse, even the extensive arsenal of destructive weapons could not give him any authority over anything beyond “the fourth part of the earth.” Thus, God’s merciful providence for mankind is plainly evident in these awful calamities. Some have been perplexed that God would permit such a thing as the disasters depicted under the last three of these horsemen. Caird thought that, “We may be pardoned for asking whether the Lamb who lets such horrors loose on the world is really the same person as the Jesus of the gospel story.”[29] A comment like that is grounded in blindness to the great mercy of God evident even in these four judgments; and also, there is a blindness to the truth that it was not the Lamb who let loose the horrors – that epic mistake belongs to Adam and his posterity. Man, having rebelled against his Creator and being expelled from the Paradise of God, may thank only himself for the manifold miseries which drown the world in sorrows. The progression of these visions is one that exhibits the following: (1) God permits people to continue the enjoyment of freedom of their will. God will not procure obedience through coercion. (2) The progression of disastrous human calamities is not permitted to ravage without limitation, but each of them is limited, a fact that will often recur in subsequent visions. (3) Nor are these terrible riders permitted to go alone. At the head of the van is the white horse with its crowned rider; and all of the others “following” him means that they are not permitted to destroy except under the rules of divine restraint. Moreover, that first rider carries the news of the everlasting gospel, capable of saving all who were ever born on earth. It has the double quality, however, of making even worse those who hear it and reject it, a quality which fully entitles the Rider of the first seal to take his place with the other “judgments” upon mankind, indeed not as their equal, but as their king and leader. For “Neither does the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son” (Joh 5:22).
The above analysis of these four riders absolutely requires that the first be understood as the Lord Jesus Christ. The denial of this can lead to exactly the kind of pessimism mentioned by Caird.
“The futurist interpretation holds that these seals refer to terrible judgments upon humanity at the end of this age.”[30] However, such an explanation leaves out of sight the undeniable truth that every morning’s newspaper carries the account of what these ravaging horsemen are doing, not at some future time, but right now all over the world.
Kill with the sword … “No significance should be attached to John’s choice of a different word for ‘sword,’ from that in 5:4. The two words are synonyms.”[31]
There is a remarkable similarity in these symbols. The sword is a feature of the second and fourth; and famine is prominent in the third and fourth, the latter being the most terrible, displaying the powers, not only of the second and third (sword and famine), but also the dimension of death by wild beasts. The very personification of the grave itself attends the rider of the pale horse. Significantly, there is no suggestion of any identity in the fourth with the white horse and its rider, indicating emphatically that there is a fundamental difference between the first symbol and the three following.
There would appear to be also a progression of some kind in the last three. War, as bad as it is, affects relatively minor proportions of the earth’s peoples. Famine, which, in many instances, attends war and is a resulting consequence of war, is a far more extensive destroyer; and the combined elements of destruction evident in the fourth go far beyond the devastation of both the others put together.
How long do these three ravaging horsemen operate? There is nothing in the text to suggest that they shall ever cease until the Second Advent. They are represented as proceeding against mankind from an authority in heaven identified with the Throne himself; and not one of them was pictured as returning prior to the sending of the others, or at any other time. The finding of successive ages or periods of history in these symbols is contrary to the known destruction represented by all three being operative throughout history. There is no historical period when any one of them may not be said to prevail.
The difficulty of understanding Christ as the rider of the first horse, or rather the whole symbol as a figure of Christ, is admittedly present; but the failure to do so is a far greater difficulty. From the beginning, it has been pointed out that “judgment” is the theme of Revelation (Rev 1:7); and the very fact of there being “four” of these symbols grouped together adds to their identification as judgments upon mankind. As Roberson pointed out:
Three being the divine number takes precedence when the fortunes of the church are under consideration, and four being the number of the world takes the lead when judgments on the world are described.[32]
We have noted this phenomenon before, and it will recur again. The inclusion of Christ himself as a participant in this judgment series is not merely in keeping with his character as judge of all mankind, but also with the whole purpose of Revelation. And how is Christ, throughout this dispensation, judging the world? The answer: from his throne in heaven (Mat 19:28), by the preaching of the gospel of Christ in all nations through his followers, and by the witness of the church, his spiritual body. The gospel judges all who hear it. Most significantly, no bad result of any kind was indicated in the progression of the throned rider on the white horse! As Lenski said: “Those who think of Christ or Christianity here are not far wrong.”[33] But does not preaching the gospel refer to the church? In the context here, it refers to the impact of the gospel upon unbelievers, to whom the gospel is also preached; and the fact of their unbelief results in its being an adverse judgment of themselves.
[29] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 82.
[30] Ralph Earle, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 543.
[31] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 156.
[32] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 41.
[33] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 221.
Commentary on Rev 6:1-8 by Manly Luscombe
Symbols in this chapter Seals – Proof of genuine, not tampered with, and official. The seals show that God has written and preserved the contents of this book, and it is definitely a message from God. Horses = needed in order to wage war. The color determines the type of war being described. Number 4 – Physical realm – all the wars are waged here in earth.
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. The Lamb begins to open the seals. They are opened one at a time. There is thunder. One of the 4 living creatures says, Come and see. This statement is directed toward those who read the writing of John. This a way of saying, Pay attention. Listen. Study. Seek to understand.
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. White horse – rider caries a bow and receives a crown. The rider is Christ. The white horse is used in 19:11 where Christ is clearly identified. The horse is symbolic of wars and battles. Christians will have to fight many battles here on earth. Since white shows purity, this horse symbolizes righteous war. See Rev 19:19-21. In Rev 19:14 Christians are pictured sitting upon white horses and following Christ.
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see. 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. Red horse – rider with power to take peace from the earth. Red shows bloodshed. The rider of this horse has the ability to take peace from the earth and cause people to kill one another. The rider has a great sword in his hand. This is the short sword of the Roman soldier.
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. Black horse – rider has a balance in his hand. Black symbolizes mourning or death. The events described in the next verse will result in severe hardships and even death.
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. A measure of wheat or 3 measure of barley – These measurements are the amount needed for a days ration. A penny = a typical days pay. Therefore, a mans complete wages would be needed in order to feed just himself. What about his family? This is a poverty situation. This seal represents more physical trials and hardships. Oil and wine were items of luxury. Where there is poverty, there will also be the extremely rich. While some are near starvation, others are living a life of luxury.
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. 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. Pale horse – rider is Death. Hades followed behind Death. Death is symbolized by the pale color. The persecutions described here are so severe, death and Hades will result. Power is given to hurt the 1/4th part of the earth. Sword (war), hunger and death. We must understand the fraction – one-fourth. The fourth part points to a part of something. The earth represents the people who are killed by the sword, not the actual earth. If one makes this a literal number – there will be all kinds of difficulties. NOTE: The number 4 is the physical number. A fourth is a fraction of physical world. A third is a fraction of the divine
Summary of first four seals. The first four seals make it clear that they deal with events on the earth. These will occur during the Christian dispensation. The first seal = going out to preach the gospel. The 2nd seal = wars fought between nations. The 3rd seal = physical hardships. The 4th seal = physical persecutions which people will suffer until Christ comes. All these seals will not affect all people. Some will suffer hardship or poverty. Others will suffer war. Some will endure persecution. The next three seals are very different. The first four dealt with humans (Christians) on earth. The next three describe events that God will set in motion.
Sermon on Rev 6:1-8
The Seven Seals
Brent Kercheville
The Lamb is the one worthy to open the scroll. The Lamb has gone to the one who sits on the throne and has taken the scroll from his hand. All of creation is praising the Lamb because he is worthy. Now the scroll is about to be opened, one seal at a time. The first five chapters of Revelation have been in preparation for the unveiling of this concealed scroll. Chapter 6 begins to reveal the things which must soon take place (Rev 1:1).
First Seal (Rev 6:1-2)
The Lamb opens the first seal. When the seal is opened, one of the four living creatures said with a voice that sounded like thunder, Come! The first seal reveals a white horse. On the white horse was a rider holding a bow. A crown was given to the rider and he came out conquering and to conquer.
These first four seals reveal what has been commonly called, The four horsemen of the apocalypse. We read about these horses and riders in Zec 1:7-11 and Zec 6:1-8. In chapter 1 of Zechariah these horses and riders are shown to be the sent by the Lord to patrol the earth. In chapter 6 of Zechariah we see these horses and riders commanded to patrol the earth. The key to understanding this image is found in Zec 6:5. The four horses and riders are going out to the four winds of heaven. What does this mean? What do the four winds of heaven represent?
The scripture use the four winds to refer to a sweeping judgment. Notice a few passages where the four winds are used.
And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. (Jer 49:36 ESV)
And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these. (Dan 11:4 ESV)
Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD. (Zec 2:6 ESV)
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Mat 24:31 ESV)
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. (Rev 7:1 ESV)
In Zechariah, the four horsemen are going to the four winds of heaven to unleash this sweeping judgment. In Revelation they are doing the same thing. The image of the four horsemen is repeated to call to the readers mind that this is an image of the coming of sweeping judgment. We need this knowledge so that we make the proper interpretation in this chapter. When we learn the role of the four horsemen in the Old Testament we see that we are not compelled to make each individual rider have a particular meaning. For example, many see the first rider on a white referring to Christ and many see the rider as the antichrist. However, this is not the intention of Revelation. In Zechariah there is a white horse with a rider, but it is not referring to Christ. It is just one of four horses that together are unleashing sweeping judgment.
The picture in Rev 6:2 is straight forward and is not intended to be made complicated. The rider of the horse is given a crown, that is, he is given authority. What does the rider have authority to do? He has authority to conquer and continue conquering. Christ has unleashed the power to conquer.
The Second Seal (Rev 6:3-4)
The Lamb opens the second seal and the second living creature also says, Come! The opened seal reveals a bright red horse. Its rider was given authority to take peace from the earth so that people would kill one another. Christ has unleashed the removal of peace and the bringing of war.
The Third Seal (Rev 6:5-6)
The Lamb opens the third seal and the third living creature announces, Come! The third seal reveals a black horse and the rider had a pair of scales in his hand. The scales picture of rationing of food. A denarius was a days wage. This amount suggests food prices about eight to sixteen times higher than normal because of famine conditions. A quart of wheat was only enough for one person to be sustained for one day. This was not enough food for a family. Barley was a lesser grain used by the poor. Three quarts of barley for a denarius was enough for a typical family for one day. While the other necessity of oil and wine are not affected by pricing, a person would not be able to afford those necessities since one days wage would be only enough for a day of food alone. Christ has unleashed famine on the inhabitants.
The Fourth Seal (Rev 6:7-8)
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, the fourth living creature also said, Come! The opened seal reveals a pale horse whose rider was named Death. Hades followed Death. They were given authority over the fourth of the earth to kill with sword, to kill with famine, to kill with pestilence, and to kill by wild beasts. Death and Hades are given four tools to use to kill. Here is a place that we need to remember that these numbers are symbolic. The prophecy is not that 2 billion people would be killed. The prophecy is showing that never everyone will die in this judgment. Only a smaller fraction of people will be killed, but not all.
These four tools for death are also common tools of Gods judgment. In Ezekiel 14 the word of the Lord declares judgment against Jerusalem. Notice the similar language used in verse 21.
For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! (Eze 14:21 ESV)
Jeremiah prophesies the same concerning Jerusalem:
And when they ask you, Where shall we go? you shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity. 3 I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. (Jer 15:2-4 ESV)
There is a reason that these tools of death were used against Jerusalem. God promised in the early days of the nation of Israel that this would be the way God would destroy Jerusalem. Look at Lev 26:18-33.
And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. 21 Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.
23 And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
27 But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled atit. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. (Lev 26:18-33 ESV)
Notice the promise of all four tools used against Jerusalem. Wild beasts (Lev 26:22), famine (Lev 26:20; Lev 26:26), pestilence (Lev 26:25), and sword (Lev 26:25; Lev 26:33). This is the way of Jerusalems demise. Thus, the imagery is used again in Rev 6:8. Christ has unleashed death upon the inhabitants.
The First Four Seals and Matthew 24
One point worthy of our consideration is the parallel between Matthew 24 and the events of the first four seals. As Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem, notice the parallels between Mat 24:6-11 and Rev 6:1-8. Wars are predicted (Mat 24:6), kingdoms and nations attacking and conquering (Mat 24:7), famines and earthquakes (Mat 24:7), and being put to death (Mat 24:9). These connections between Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 are also noted by scholars.
The seals closely parallel the signs of the approaching end times spoken of in Jesus Olivet Discourse (Mat 24:1-35; Mar 13:1-37; Luk 21:5-33). (Expositors Bible Commentary)
The equation of the seals with Mat 24:6-14 is correct. (Thomas, Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary, 416)
The similarities are so close that some venture to call that discourse the main source of the seal judgments (Charles; Beasley-Murray). (Thomas, Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary, 416)
But the content corresponds very closely to the eschatological discourse of Jesus in Luk 21:9-36. (Smalley, 146)
I will leave you to make your own judgments about the connections between Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 with Revelation 6. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are parallel accounts referring to the coming judgment and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (cf. Luk 21:20). Therefore, if Revelation 6 is referring to the same events as Matthew 24, then the first four seals are describing the destruction of Jerusalem. This would fit with what we previously noted, that the prophecy of wild beasts, pestilence, famines, and sword as the causes of death were spoken against Jerusalem in the scriptures.
Conclusion
The seals are revealing Gods judgments on the earth.
We have not been explicitly told who the judgments are against.
These judgments are pictured as affecting many (wars, famine, and death)
We are given an overview of the coming judgments. Once all the seals are opened, more details about these judgments will be revealed (chapters 8-11).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
beast living creatures. (See Scofield “Eze 1:5”).
Come and see Come! Omit “and see.” So Rev 6:1; Rev 6:3; Rev 6:5
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Rev 6:1, Rev 6:3, Rev 6:5, Rev 4:7
Reciprocal: Rev 8:1 – And
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 6:7. No description is given of the voice of the beasts (living creatures) after the first one. But in each case (up to the fourth) the call to attention is made to John that he would be sure to see what was about to be revealed.
Rev 6:8. When the fourth seal was broken John saw a pale horse which indicates death. That calmity would come first as a result of the terrible famine which the war had brought about, and it was made worse by the persecutions that were fostered by the Pagan Roman Empire. Death and hell are named in the order they would observe in their occurrence. The word hell is from Hades which is the abode of departed spirits. It was logical therefore to name them in the order as stated. Power . . . over the fourth part of the earth. God never did suffer the enemy to exterminate completely the victims attacked. The general purpose of the enemy was to kill. The means by which it might be accomplished we-re various, such as with the sword and hunger. With either of these the death would be a direct result of the means used. With death might seem a meaningless phrase unless it is understood that it refers to some indirect means such as a pestilence. Another means of causing the death of the Lord’s people was to expose them to vicious beasts as was done in the arenas of Rome.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 7-8.
The pale horse (fourth seal)–Rev 6:7-8.
The color of pale was the symbol of death. This seal is specifically called a death procession, but was not a martyr scene. It signifies death by the destructive forces of the sword (war); of hunger (famine); of death (pestilence or disease); and of wild beasts (devoured or ravished).
By the sword–as the instrument employed by the rider of the pale horse to accomplish his work of destruction–he is represented as having power to kill. It symbolized the weapon of war waged against Jerusalem. Hunger is the blight of famine, and is descriptive of the mass starvation that prevailed during the siege of Jerusalem. Pestilence is the terror of death by ravishing disease, which also prevailed in the destruction and siege of Jerusalem. The beasts of this symbol do not refer to wild animals, as usually considered, but to cannibalism, as men turned beasts to ravish and devour each other and even to eat the flesh of their children. It occurred during the siege of Jerusalem, according to Jesus in Mat 24:6-8 and according to the eye witness accounts of Josephus and Pliny.
It is declared that death and hell followed the rider of the pale horse. The word is hades, and refers to the domain of death, the realm of the departed, the unseen world of disembodied spirits, the subterranean abode of the dead. There are important distinctions in the uses of hell in the old English text. To translate Gehenna and Hades in the same word hell has had the effect of obliterating the difference between the place of eternal torment and the temporary abode of the dead. Since the descent of Christ into Hades, as described by the psalmist David, in Psa 16:10 and by the apostle Peter in Act 2:29, no one prepared for the eventuality of death need fear entrance into this realm nor the passage through it. He who “was dead and is alive,” holds “the keys of death and hades,” and from that fear he delivers us. (Heb 2:14)
The rider of the pale horse was death, and hades was his companion–it followed with him. They were joined together as associates in the dark and ghastly mission of grim Reapers, in the role assigned to them in these seals.
To Death and Hades was given power over fourth part of earth: To the rider Death, and his colleague Hades, this power was given by the four creatures; it was the authority to kill by the means named–war, famine, pestilence and ravishment over the fourth part of the earth. The earth is the place of the nations in the vision; and this assignment is made by the fourth beast in the fourth seal, to the fourth rider, of the fourth horse, and his division of work was a fourth part in this pageant of devastation. Elsewhere in the scenes are found the expressions third part and tenth part, apparently intended as proportionate figures of the vast destruction, but without geographical or mathematical significance.
The scene of the four horses and riders is a panorama of the war on Jerusalem in a fourfold set of events, an extension of twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. They represent one set of events, not separate figures for separated periods or ages of the world, such as war in one age, famine in another century, carnage in another generation, and with a final fantastic millennium in the end of the world. It is a combined series fulfilled in one period as foretold by Jesus in Mat 24:34. The conquest of the victorious rider of the white horse through the bow could not be accomplished without the war on Jerusalem. The red horse of war could not perform without the black horse of famine, or without the pale horse of death in immediate pursuit. To separate the seals by centuries of time is to destroy the entire imagery.
The records of Mat 24:1-51, Mar 13:1-37, and Luk 21:1-38, concerning Jerusalem, are counterparts of the seals of Revelation. The works of Josephus on the Palestinian wars give historical fulfillment in the account of the bloody war of the Jews and the siege of Jerusalem. The historical parallels in the history of the Roman empire by Edward Gibbon is a virtual commentary on the book Revelation, in the portion covering the period of the Roman war against Jerusalem. Truly, these things must have shortly come to pass, and verily was the time at hand.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 6:7-8. The fourth horse is pale in colour, that is, with the livid paleness of a corpse. He comes forth in circumstances precisely similar to those already met by us, and he is to be looked at in the same way. As in them, so also in him and in his rider Jesus comes to judgment,
The name of the rider is given, Death, which is to be understood in its natural signification. For the mode of expression comp. Joh 3:1. He is represented as accompanied by Hades, who does not follow after him, but with him; or, in other words, is his inseparable companion. We are to understand Hades here in the same sense as that in which we met it in chap. Rev 1:18 (see note). Neither Hades nor death touches the people of God. The judgment is on the world.
Authority is given unto them to kill, etc. May these words not be an echo of the words, they sought to kill Him, so often said of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel? His enemies sought to kill Him: He, in His judgments, kills them (comp. on Rev 6:4). That there are four things by which death and Hades kill we learn from Eze 14:21, to which passage there is here an obvious reference. It is true that we have a change of preposition when we come to the last of the four; but this change may be dependent upon the fact that the same preposition which had been used with the first three could not also be used with the last.
The authority to kill spoken of is given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, that is, over a fourth part of the ungodly, not of all who dwell upon the surface of the earth. Over the elect, who are preserved unhurt, they have no power. Thus again there is a climax when we pass from the third to the fourth seal. In the third seal provision for the saints was to be left unhurt: in the fourth, while death and Hades accomplish their dread work around them, they are untouched. It is not easy to say why the fourth part of the earth should be selected as the prey of this last and greatest judgment. The suggestion that it is designed to bring out a correspondence with the fourth rider is unsatisfactory, and finds no analogy in chap. 8, where a third part is spoken of. The object may be only to give scope for the climax which we shall hereafter find in comparing the Trumpets and Bowls with the Seals. At this point of the Apocalypse the judgments of God appear in their earliest and most limited range. Were they to extend over the whole earth, there would be no room for the extension of judgment that is to follow. The Seer therefore beheld them exercising their sway only over a part of the earth; and that he chose the fourth, as hereafter the third, part may arise from nothing more than this, that the numbers four and three were so often in his mind, and that a fourth part was smaller than a third.
Such then are the first four seals which, to be understood, must be viewed ideally. They refer to no specific war or famine or pestilence, nor do they even necessarily follow one another in chronological succession. They express the great principle borne witness to by the whole course of human history,that the world, refusing the yoke and kingdom of the Son of God, draws down upon itself His righteous judgments. These judgments again are confined to no particular period. War, famine, and pestilence, or the troubles and sufferings which they symbolize, darken the whole history of man, and all of them are but ominous forerunners of the more terrible judgment to come, when the Lord shall finally and for ever vindicate His own cause, put all His enemies beneath His feet, and establish His reign of perfect peace and righteousness (Mat 24:8). During the calamities produced by them, too, the Lord preserves His own. They suffer, but judgments such as these are not directed against them. On the contrary, in sorrow they rejoice, in famine they live by other things than bread, and they are unaffected by the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Even in death itself they do not die, and the spirit in which they are enabled to meet their outward trials is to them a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that they may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which they also suffer (2Th 1:5).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The fourth seal opened represents a pale horse, (pestilence,) with death riding upon it; and hell, that is, the grave, followed it: denoting, say some, all the calamities of sword, pestilence, and famine, which Christ Mark 13 foretold should come upon the Jews, and cause an universal devastation of their city and nation, and as universal a destruction of their persons.
Note here, 1. How death is represented as sitting upon a pale horse; by a horse, for his strength, there is no resisting of him; for his swiftness, it is always posting towards us; for his office and use, which is to cut off, and carry away; and by a pale horse, for its ghastliness. Death has a grim and ghastly countenance, that strikes terror into all hearts, and paleness into all faces.
Note, 2. As terrible as death was, it must and did receive power before it could destroy and kill: I beheld a pale horse, and he that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him: and power was given to them.
Learn thence, That all the executioners of God’s wrath and vengeance, sword, pestilence, and famine, death of all kinds, do act by commission, yea, they all come forth with limited commission; power was given to them.
Others conceive, that by this pale horse the persecution of the primitive church was represented under the Pagan emperors, who made her face look pale like death, by the loss of a vast quantity of blood and spirits, when the church was mowed down like a meadow, and sprang as fast.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The word describing the fourth horse’s color is usually translated “green.” ( Mar 6:39 ; Rev 8:7 ; Rev 9:4 ) It would thus describe someone who is sick or dead. Its rider is death and Hades follows to claim the disembodied spirits. Their power was limited, which indicates Christ is still in control. However, they are allowed to work in a fourth of earth, which indicates this terrible event falls on Christian and non-Christian alike. The sword here is the longer twoedged sword used by most nations in war, so we believe war is its meaning. This is followed by hunger, death by plague and beasts eating up the weakened people remaining. Such a pattern often accompanies war.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 6:7-8. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature Like an eagle, toward the north; say, Come and see Receive a further discovery of the divine will. And I looked, and behold a pale horse Suitable to pale death, his rider. By death, in the Hebrew, we are frequently to understand the pestilence. See Jer 9:21; Jer 18:21; and Sir 39:29. And many other instances might be produced. And hell Or hades, rather, representing the state of separate souls, followed with him. And power was given unto them Namely, to death and hades. Or if we read, with Bengelius, , the expression is, Power was given to him, namely, to death; over the fourth part of the earth That is, a very considerable part of the heathen Roman empire: to kill By the several judgments of God here mentioned; with sword That is, with war; with hunger Or famine; with death Or the pestilence; and with the beasts of the earth These are called the four sore judgments of God, in the style of ancient prophecy. See Eze 14:21; Eze 33:27. The meaning is, That the sword and famine, which were judgments of the foregoing seals, are continued in this, and the pestilence is added to them. Accordingly, says Lowman, we find all these judgments in a very remarkable manner in this part of history, that is, in the reigns of Maximin, Decius, Gallus, Volusian, and Valerian, beginning after Severus, about the year 211, to A.D. 270. Thus also Bishop Newton; who observes, This period commences with Maximin, who was an emperor from the north, being born of barbarous parents in a village of Thrace. He was indeed a barbarian in all respects; an historian affirming that there was not a more cruel animal upon the earth. The history of his, and several succeeding reigns, is full of wars and murders, mutinies of soldiers, invasions of foreign armies, rebellions of subjects, and deaths of princes. There were more than twenty emperors in the space of fifty years, and all, or most of them, died in war, or were murdered by their own soldiers and subjects. Besides lawful emperors, there were, in the reign of Gallienus, thirty usurpers, who set up in different parts of the empire, and came all to violent and miserable ends. Here was sufficient employment for the sword; and such wars and devastations must necessarily produce a famine, and the famine is another distinguishing calamity of this period. In the reign of Gallus, the Scythians made such incursions, that not one nation, subject to the Romans, was left unwasted by them; and every unwalled town, and most of the walled cities, were taken by them. In the reign of Probus also there was a great famine throughout the world; and for want of victuals, the army mutinied and slew him. A usual consequence of famine is the pestilence, which is the third distinguishing calamity of this period. According to Zonaras, it arose from Ethiopia, while Gallus and Volusian were emperors, pervaded all the Roman provinces, and for fifteen years together incredibly exhausted them; and the learned Lipsius declares, that he never read of any greater plague, for the space of time that it lasted, or of land that it overspread. Zozimus also, speaking of the devastations of the Scythians before mentioned, further adds, that the pestilence, not less pernicious than war, destroyed whatever was left of human kind, and made such havoc as it had never done in former times. Many other historians, and other authors quoted by Bishop Newton, bear the same testimony; among whom Eutropius affirms, that the reign of Gallus and Volusian was remarkable only for the pestilence and diseases. And Trebellius Pollio attests, that in the reign of Gallienus the pestilence was so great, that five thousand men died in one day. Now when countries thus lie uncultivated, uninhabited, and unfrequented, the wild beasts usually multiply, and come into the towns to devour men, which is the fourth distinguishing calamity of this period. This would appear a probable consequence of the former calamities, if history had recorded nothing. But Julius Capitolinus, in his account of the younger Maximin, p. 150, informs us that five hundred wolves together entered into a city, which was deserted by its inhabitants, where this Maximin chanced to be. The colour of the pale horse, therefore, is very suitable to the mortality of this period; and the proclamation for death and destruction is fitly made by a creature like an eagle, that watches for carcasses. This period the bishop considers as continuing from Maximin to Dioclesian, about fifty years.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:7 {6} And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
(6) The fourth sign joined with words of declaration is, that God will devote a quarter of the world to death and hell, or the grave, by all those methods at once, who individually and in order he had summoned to change their minds. To these are also added the wild and cruel beasts of the earth Lev 16:22 . Thus according to his wisdom, God dispenses the treasures of his power, justly towards all, mercifully towards the good, and with patience or longsuffering towards his enemies.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The fourth seal 6:7-8
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lamb broke the fourth seal, and the fourth living creature called the fourth horseman out.