onwards. The Lamb now begins to open the seals. The inevitability of history is revealed, for all is seen to be in God's hands. He is in control of history. But this does not mean He causes it to be. It is man who chooses the way that he takes, with its inevitable results, but God in the end is the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Go!”. And I saw and behold a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him and he went out conquering and to conquer. And when he opened the secon... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 6 THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SIX SEALS. The next stage of John's vision describes the opening of the seals by the Lamb, and it will soon be clear that the result is the outworking of world history. It is the beginning of the end! However we know that it will take two thousand years and more t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WHITE HORSE - FALSE ‘MESSIAHS' (REVELATION 6:2). Many have gone out through history representing themselves as the chosen of God, and have brought death in their train. We do not need to identify a specific one as intended here, for the horseman represents all such. It represents the _idea_ o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RED HORSE - WAR AMONG NATIONS (REVELATION 6:3). To the red horse, the colour of blood, it was given to take peace from the earth, and he ‘is given' a great sword. This great sword is in contrast to the sword which came from the mouth of the Son of Man (Revelation 1:16). That one was the powerfu... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BLACK HORSE - FAMINE (REVELATION 6:5). Famine is the second of God's sore judgments (Ezekiel 14:21). In Lamentations those who suffered famine were described as ‘their visage is darker than blackness, they are not known in the streets, their skin cleaves to their bones, it is withered, it is bec... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PALE HORSE - WHOLESALE DEATH (REVELATION 6:7). 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 c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OPENING OF THE FIFTH SEAL (REVELATION 6:9). ‘And when he opened the fifth seal I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Oh Master (despotes), the holy and true... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. And the heaven was remo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OPENING OF THE SIXTH SEAL (REVELATION 6:12). ‘And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on... [ Continue Reading ]