a study by Rev. Paul A. Bartz

Outline of Chapter 6 -- Reel Two

1. 6:1-2 -- Seal 1
2. 6:3-4 -- Seal 2
3. 6:5-6 -- Seal 3
4. 6:7-8 -- Seal 4
5. 6:9-11 -- Seal 5
6. 6:12-17 -- Seal 6

Chapter 6 begins "Reel Two" of History -- pagan imperial Rome, from Nerva to Constantine who made Rome "Christian." Here is where we can begin placing the descriptions in the book of Revelation into actual human history. Reel Two is composed of seven seals.

The First Seal

6:1 -- The Lamb (Christ) opens the first seal, which means literally (as explained by the events in v. 2) that He "gives the OK" for the events to take place. All things pass through Gods hands, and He will use even the worst to the benefit of His children. This was a primary comfort provided to believers by the book of Revelation which appeared on the Christian scene at the dawn of the worst Christian persecutions before modern times.

"Come" -- said by one of the "living creatures" -- as these creatures are instruments of carrying out God's providence (what will happen, see 4:6b-8a), the creature as part of his job bids the first even to take place.

6:2 -- Rider on the white horse -- In the late first century a White Horse was a good symbol of Roman leadership. Caesars no longer sought to engage in battle directly, rather seeking to enlarge the empire through treaties. Caesar would then enter his new territory as a victor, riding a white horse. The conquest the Ceasar is pictured as bent on in verse two is the young Christian Church. Therefore this would be the first of the Roman persecution of Christianity (81-180 A.D.) which was just getting started at the time of John's writing.

4. Luther, while not perfect, was the consummate picture of a sanctified interpreter of Scripture. In his last years he tried his hand, too, at the book of Revelation and wrote of this passage: "First come the bodily tribulations, such as persecution by the temporal government, which is the rider with the bow upon the white horse." If we reject Luther's opinion (and we can and do at times), we must have a good reason. There is no such good reason to do so here.

Typical persecutions of this time: confiscation of property and exile (St. John's exile); being fed to the lions and used as human fodder in other "games"; imprisonment. Nero and Domitian were the worst. Vespasian was one of the least harsh toward the Christians. This became a moral war especially with regard to the political leaders and those who associated with them. The more moral perversions you engaged in the less likely suspicious eyes were to fall on you as secretly being a Christian. If you shunned moral perversion you were suspected of being a Christian and found yourself in a dangerous position. Rome indeed collapsed from within -- its leaders during this time being extremely self-centered: bribery, homosexuality, drugs, and abortion as well as the discarding of "unacceptable" infants were all hallmarks of life in imperial Rome at this time.

It is interesting to note that the Roman Empire protected the right of freedom of religion and considered all religions to be equal under the law. This resulted in a culture in which it was, in today's language, "politically incorrect" to claim, as did the Christians, that there was only one way to God -- through Jesus Christ. The Romans considered such claims intolerant, and eventually led to the persecution of Christians.

Reasons this rider cannot be Christ:

1. Christ has already been presented as the Lord of History.

2. Christ has already won the crown of absolute victory, and does not need to be given another crown, since this would be meaningless or devalue His victory, so celebrated in the previous chapter.

3. To include Christ as one of the fulfillment of the seals (even the first) is too limiting in light of what we have already seen in the book of Revelation. To see Christ here would be a kind of double symbolism uncharacteristic of Scripture.

4. When Christ is depicted as coming on a white horse later in the book (see 19:11-15), the depiction is far different than this.

The Second Seal

6:3 -- Christ breaks the second seal -- bringing the next set of events about and the "living creature" charged with carrying out God's providence orders the actual events carried out.

6:4 -- The red horse symbolizes and brings about war and bloodshed -- even as the verse explains. Some commentators see this just as war in general -- but such has existed since Cain killed Abel. Luther sees this in time progression after the period of Roman conquest brought about in the breaking of the first seal. Our diagram presents this specifically as the 104-year period of the Roman Civil War, during which time 64 men tried to be emperor and 37 succeeded (180-284 A.D.) First and Second Century readers would picture the sword here as the Roman short sword, used in hand-to-hand combat. It was one of the weapons of choice for doing in emperors (remember Julius Caesar?).

God is a God of peace (Rom 15:33). But He is also just and must punish sin. War is one of the results of sin. It is a direct result of the heart of every person (James 4:1-2, Deut. 26:21-25). War is also a means by which God calls the faithful back to Himself (Rom 8:35-37, Hebrews 12:5-11).

The Third Seal

6:5-6 -- We have here a period of economic hard times, such as would follow the specific civil war as in Rome and indeed did. Bands of competing armies went about the countryside at this time, destroying crops and taking food stores for themselves. This pillaging of food supplies combined with drought at this time made food very scarce and precious. The "living creatures" of providence give us several clues to the interpretation of this verse. The prices he calls out for the basic staples of life are extraordinarily high. The scales indicate that food was carefully measured.

"The oil and the wine" are not staples but luxuries at this time. Of course such economic oppression strikes the common man and the poor hardest. The drought that Gibbon documents at this time can be found hinted at in these words. The roots of the vines that produce the wine, and the olive trees that are the source of the oil, go deeper into the ground, and are thus less affected by drought.<

Additional facts about Rome at this politically unsettled time clearly indicate that the Roman period of civil strife is the oppression which St. John saw. At this time Rome taxed everything, even the staples of life, to finance its wars and corrupt leaders. But it did not tax oil and wine, making the words "do not harm the oil and wine" a very striking coincidence if this specific event is not that which is spoken of in these verses!

Inflation definitely plays a part in this and is a punishment of God upon the society in which materialism predominates. Such materialism, which is a love for the created over the Creator, leads to God's House being empty when it is time for worship, because the material things that we surround ourselves with challenge the time and quality of our service and love for the Lord. Haggai 1:6-9 explains this and Matt. 6:33 gives the solution. One's love for the Lord is directly related to his worship and service for the Lord.

The Fourth Seal

6:7-8 -- "Come and See" -- Breaking of the fourth seal is Heaven's permission for hunger, famine, and death from wild animals to strike the earth as punishment for the faithless and for strengthening of the faithful. This produces a wider gulf between the faithful and the faithless, for the rejectors (and neglectors) of God's Word are punished with these and the faithful become stronger. Wild animals were often used to execute Christians at this time and such a reference here may be a reminder that this too is from God's Hand and for His glory (see John 16-16-23).

"Authority over 1/4 of the earth to kill . . .." Does not indicate necessarily an exact number of people, so much as a limit to this destruction. Rome at this time claimed most of Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa and easily encompassed 1/4 of humanity. This fact suggests what history upholds, that these things were a punishment upon Rome for their general resistance of the Gospel and persecution of the faithful. Gibbon records that the drought (the Third Seal), was followed by fifteen years of plague. He writes that it was widespread throughout the Empire. Half of the population of Alexandria died in the plague during this fifteen year period. On some days, 5,000 people a day were dying in Rome. The message here is that heaven is aware of the plight of the faithful.

The Fifth Seal -- The Persecutions

6:9-11 -- "the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God, and the testimony which they had maintained." This is a reference to those who died refusing to renounce Christ and worship the Emperor and the Roman Pantheon. As we can see here, heaven views this as a major event in the church's and the world's history. Persecution today is even at greater levels than it was in Rome and is also a major turning point in world history which is mentioned later on in Revelation.

The Fifth Seal can be applied to all the persecutions, however, Christian persecution reached its most intense point. From 202 to 303 AD there were five major campaigns of persecution against Christians (Great Persecutions 5-10) culminating in the last of the Great Persecutions, #10 under Diocletian. Churches were raided and looted under government direction and Christians were stripped of protection of the law. This is regarded as the most intense of all the persecutions. One historian estimated that not less than 17,000 Christians were put to death in the space of one month during the tenth persecution. We can certainly understand why their souls in heaven were crying "How long?" during this ten year persecution.

The Lord has warned believers about persecutions, lest even we fall into false security. However, most persecution, especially today in the West, is more subtle: the disapproval of friends or family at the time we spend at church; intolerance by those around us of expressions of our faith; disapproval of others when we refuse to join in their activities because of Christian principles. Such persecutions are considered general persecutions and every Christians is warned to expect them.

General Persecution for Faithfulness: 2 Timothy 3:1-15

First Persecutions: Matt. 10:16-42; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:17-27; John 16:1-4.

Persecutions at the End of Time: Matt. 24:4-14

The cry of the sainted martyrs, "How long, O Lord, Holy and True . . .." Not a questioning of His wisdom but a sincere desire to know out of deep pain over the events taking place. It is also a prayer of anticipation for the ultimate and inevitable victory of righteousness (the Final Judgment) rather than a prayer out of the desire for personal vengeance.

Here we have more Scriptural proof that the souls of the dead are conscious in heaven with the Lord before the great Resurrection and we further see that they do indeed pray, even there, for the church still on earth. But of course we do not pray to or for them. This passage (among others) refutes the "soul sleep" idea, for it depicts the souls of sainted Christians very much aware of what goes on here on earth, and very capable of praying to the Lord for the church.

"A White Robe" -- Symbolizing not their holiness, for even suffering, torture and death for Christ is not enough to earn heaven. The holiness was "given" to them -- the holiness earned for them and us by Christ on the cross. God further comforts them to enjoy their rest. God knows the number appointed to die in this persecution and He is still in control of all things. No more will fall away as a result of the persecutions than would have if there were no persecutions. The persecutions simply serve to strengthen the faithful church. Beware of when Christianity is easy and acceptable in society, for then the devil is close enough to smell. The time of lack of persecution is for doing mission work. The time of persecution is for strengthening those already part of the church.

The Sixth Seal

6:12-17 -- Persecutions of Christianity from Constantine until the end of the world. (The Saints' Prayer for Justice Answered).

Verses 12-14 speak of the things.

Verses 15-17 speak of the people.

How do we know this speaks of things from this time (because of time progression to the 6th seal after the 5th) to the end of the world? Because of Scriptures identification of these events with the very end. ("Scripture interprets Scripture," rule #2). 2 Peter 3:10-12; Matthew 24:7-10 (which speaks of the Fifth Seal) and 29-30 (which speaks of the Sixth Seal).

The weight of sin under which all creation groans (Romans 8:22) will finally cause collapse. The earth will finally be destroyed by fire in an event greater than the great flood of Noah, but which comes for the same reason (see 2 Peter 3:6-7). The weight of sin -- even unfaithfulness within the church -- brings these events in 6:12-17 to pass (see 2 Peter 2:1-3:7 for the events leading up to this.) 2 Peter 3:8-13 offers comfort for believers and assures us that everything will turn out all right for the faithful. 2 Peter 3:14-18 speaks of the preparation which must be made by the faithful to be prepared for these inevitable events. Taken together, these passages provide us with one of the finest detailed descriptions of the visible church today and indicates that the final closing events described in 6:12-17 are not far away.

6:12-14 -- The events are described as they appear to John. Some have suggested atomic war or the supernova of our sun or some other astronomical disaster as the visible cause for darkening of sun and moon and splitting of sky and earth. The text does not give us the information to be that precise or insistent. But merely tells us what it will look like when you see it. As described, these events appear to be too cataclysmic to have been produced by man.

6:15-17 -- All will know what is happening ("hide us from the wrath of the Lamb"). What a tragedy that some will fear the Savior who offered them so much, a tragedy they bring upon themselves because of their own pride. The message of the Gospel, of the full and free acceptance by God for Christ's sake carries with it, even when unspoken, the idea that a person is not by nature, without Christ, attractive to God. The invitation to "Come through Jesus" leads some to say, "Am I not good enough on my own? How dare you!"

"Who is able to stand?" No human being, not even a Christian can stand before God on their own. But those who agree with God as to their unworthiness, and plead for mercy reminding God that Jesus, who is already their Lord, has already borne on the cross what they deserved, shall be welcomed as children for His sake. But these will nevertheless be frightful times.

There will also be those who knew the Bible but had no real faith -- those who did not serve to the glory of God or fell away, and those who were false leaders in the church who shall plead for entrance in Christ's Name and shall be turned away. See Matthew 7:21-23.

1. Chapter Six deals with persecution or rejection on account of Christ. Have you ever experienced rejection by a friend, or anyone's disapproval because as a Christian you could not go along with them? What happened?

2. Did you withstand such subtle persecutions as mentioned in number one? How?

3. How frequently do you remember those who are persecuted for their faith in outward ways (as in Cuba, China and Africa) in your prayers?

4. In which situation is it harder to remain faithful to Christ? Give reasons for your answer.
   1. A time of prosperity and the lure of material goods and comfort, and a general acceptance of many Christian values, but not Christ -- where the issues are not well-known and there is little pressure to be aware of them.

   2. A time of poverty, persecution, even death for Jesus' sake. A total rejection of things Christian and Christians. Where knowing the issues is a matter of life or death, eternally.

5. Is it possible that a significantly more open persecution of Christians in the United States is possible in our lifetime?

6. How can a Christian withstand persecution?
   • List some Bible passages that would be helpful to you in withstanding persecution.

7. When does preparation for persecution begin?

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