6:3 ¶
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say,
Come and see. 4 And there went out
another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take
peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was
given unto him a great sword.
The opening
of this seal released a red horse. Obviously, there is a rider on the horse and
he has power to cause war. This is not the red horse rider in Zechariah as he
is observing the world, not causing war.
Zechariah 1:8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon
a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and
behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white 9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And
the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees
answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro
through the earth. 11 And they answered
the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have
walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still,
and is at rest.
We have a
conqueror and then war over the earth. Killing by the sword is a
characterization of war and not necessarily referring to a specific weapon as
people are killed in war by catapults, spears, knives, and clubs among other
weapons. Don’t get hung up on God not mentioning AK-47’s or hand grenades.
6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I
heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse;
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four
beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a
penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
The third
seal is famine, riding a black horse. So far, we have a conqueror with a bow,
war, and famine which follows both. A third of Germany’s population in the
Thirty Year’s War in the early 1600’s perished, mostly by famine and disease,
as armies raged over the land.
A penny
represents a day’s wages.
Matthew 20:2
And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent
them into his vineyard.
In a famine
the price of food goes up. If we imagine a loaf of bread requiring a day’s
wages we can see, for a minimum wage worker today that loaf of bread would cost
about $60.(9)
Luxury items
are not affected, perhaps? The oil and the wine are not affected?
Proverbs 21:17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man:
he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
Could it be
possible that this disaster adversely affects the working classes and the poor
most of all as disasters like war often do?
Let’s move
to the fourth seal.
(9) Wayne Croley, “Revelation 6:6: The End Times Cost of
Food Part 1. “ Prophecy Proof. http://www.prophecyproof.org/2011/02/revelation-66-the-end-times-cost-of-food-part-1/. (accessed
12.16.2015).
6:7 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.
Death, the
fourth horseman, follows famine, war, and a conqueror as it often has
throughout history. If the earth is
not simply a reference to what had been the Roman Empire of that time then a
fourth of the world’s population is killed with weapons of war, hunger,
disease, and the natural world’s resurgence. We must always keep in mind,
though, that when most people in Europe, the Western Asia, and North Africa
wrote about the earth in those days they were referring to the Mediterranean
world.
A couple of
notes here. For killing with death see comments on chapter 2, verse 23. This
suggests a plague or plagues, which the previous comments on the seals,
trumpets, and vials manifest.
It is
well-known that in some parts of the United States, at least, natural predators
are on the rise again due to laws restricting the hunting of them. Mountain
lions, coyotes, and wolves are coming back. We will learn why our forefathers
killed them if this keeps up as our livestock, pets, and even our children
become their prey again.
If these things are happening at the same time,
as some say, then when the fourth trumpet sounds;
Revelation 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third
part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part
of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not
for a third part of it, and the night likewise. 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying
through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the
inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the
three angels, which are yet to sound!
And the
fourth vial is poured out;
Revelation 16:8 ¶ And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon
the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and
blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they
repented not to give him glory.
There is a
conqueror, hail and fire mingled with blood, a horrible sore on the worshippers
of the Beast’s image, but war on the earth, an asteroid hitting the earth or a
volcano falling into the sea, the water congealed like men’s blood a third of
sea creatures that breathe died, and a third of the ships destroyed. We have
famine, something falling from outer space making the waters undrinkable, and
water normally drank turned to blood. There is a plague or plagues and wild
animals killing large numbers of people, sun, moon, and stars limited, great
heat, and misery over the people who would not give God glory and blasphemed
Him. Here is conflict with the contemporaneous view. The sun is smitten but the
sun scorches men. So, I do not feel comfortable believing these events all
happen at the same time as some commentators have said.
Now, for the
fifth seal.
6:9
¶ 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: 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?
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 fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be
killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The fifth
seal opens with martyrs crying out from under the altar asking why God has not
taken vengeance on their murderers. These people are already in heaven, not
represented by angels in heaven with their physical bodies being on earth. They
have been martyred. Prophets in the past have asked why the wicked were allowed
to pursue their goals for so long.
Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with
thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the
wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
The martyrs were given white
robes.
Revelation 19:8 And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints.
They are told to chill because
there are more of them to be killed. God has previously told someone that a
promise would be fulfilled later when something was complete.
Genesis 15:13 And he said unto
Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not
theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall
serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in
peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come
hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
If the seals and trumpets and
vials happen at the same time we have;
Revelation 9:1 ¶ And the fifth
angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was
given the key of the bottomless pit. 2
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the
pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by
reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And
there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given
power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was commanded them that they should
not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but
only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5 And to them it was given that they should not
kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was
as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and
shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts were
like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns
like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and
their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound
of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto
scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt
men five months. 11 And they had a king
over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew
tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two
woes more hereafter.
Along with the agony caused by
these supernatural creatures from Hell there is;
Revelation 16:10 And the fifth
angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full
of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of
their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
It appears that the trumpet seems
to be the spiritual cause of the physical agony the vial places on the kingdom of the Beast, who, I said, was
probably that conqueror in the first seal.
I believe
then that these events in the first five seals are future events with a disaster
encompassing the entire world never felt in human history since the Great
Flood. The first rider is the Beast, a conqueror. I do not believe the events
of the seals, trumpets, and vials, have to be happening at the same time.
Let’s move on
to the sixth seal.
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