Article 13

UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 13

The Lamb Breaks the Seals

In the previous article (12) we witnessed in Revelation 4-5 the inaugural exaltation of Jesus Christ to the right hand of the throne of God.  Let us meditate on what led up to that exalted state of Christ.  Matthew 1:23 states that the Babe in the manger was “God with us”!  We call it the “incarnation”—God becoming Man.  John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 perfectly describe the reality of the incarnation of this One.  Luke 2:40 briefly mentions that “the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him.”  At the age of twelve (v. 42) He accompanied His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover feast.  To Jesus, it seemed that His whole life was so caught up with the proceedings of the feast—He “lingered behind” when they had “finished the days” (v. 43).  He was found in the temple “listening…and…asking questions” and the teachers were “astonished at His understanding and answers (v. 46, 47).  The boy Jesus recognized the mission of His life!  Please note v. 49!

Now, do not miss this next entry.  Jesus disappears for the next 18 years.  At age 30 He reappears at the Jordan River where John is baptizing (Luke 3:21-23).  It is significant that the heavenly voice declared, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”  Two other statements in John’s gospel command our attention.  On a particular day in the temple conversing with the Pharisees, Jesus stated, “the Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29).  In that same confrontation amazingly Christ questioned, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?”  And no one stood up to the mike!  Here’s the point – Jesus lived a life in perfect harmony with His Father’s will and law of love.  He had to live this quality of life so that He could “qualify” to be our Savior and die for our sins!  Jesus was required to live right so He could die right!  The apostle Paul clearly teaches us that, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).

That’s not all.  The resurrection of Christ validates all that went before it!  “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17)!  That’s still not all.  It is the resurrected Christ who is “exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33) who now holds the scroll of the history and destiny of the entire world in His hands (Rev. 5:7).  All this erupts the anthems of the universe in Revelation 5.

Revelation 6 describes the beginning of the opening of the seven seals.  It is important to recognize that after receiving the seven sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat on the throne, the Lamb immediately begins to open the seals.  With the opening of the first seal (6:1-2), John sees a crowned rider with bow on a white horse, “and he went out conquering and to conquer”.  What does this symbolism mean?  Again, it is important to realize that every place where the color white is mentioned in this book it has to with God, Christ, or people/angels who are associated with them.  What or who is this rider conquering?  Looking at the context of chapters one and two of Acts, we find the answer.  The excitement of the believers in the reality of the risen Christ no doubt knows no bounds, however Jesus instructs them “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father” because they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  They would “receive power When the Holy Spirit has come upon you; [and] be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:1-8).  Ten days later “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come” and Jesus “being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:1, 33).  According to the remainder of the verses in chapter 2 the people, in response to Peter’s encouragement, were baptized and “that day about three thousand souls were added to them.  Then verse 47 states that “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

The rider on the white horse, newly armed with Holy Spirit power, went out on that day of the “official” birth of the Christian Church “conquering and to conquer” with the gospel of Christ.  This is the literal meaning and reality of the first seal rider on the white horse!

Now we notice just a few more instances of the ongoing of the white-horse-rider.  Please read Acts 3:7; 4:4, 29, 31-33; 5:14; 6:7; 7:56; 8:4-8.  We might ask, “how long does the white horse rider ride?”  The answer is another question, “how long does Jesus continue conquering the hearts of men, women, boys and girls? —to the very end!

When the Lamb opened the second seal (6:3-4) John sees a rider on a “fiery red” horse granted “to take peace from the earth, that people should kill one another; and he is given a “great sword”.  “Red” is the color of opposition and persecution on those who were conquered by the white horse rider.  Again, we turn to the book of Acts and clearly see the activity of the red horse exhibited.  Please read Acts 4:3, 17; 5:17-18, 33, 40; 7:59; 8:1-3.  Wherever and whenever God is working, the devil is right on His heals.  Hey, Jesus sweat great drops of blood and spilled His blood for us on calvary’s cross.  So, we ask, “how long does the rider on the red horse ride?  The answer – “as long as Christ still conquers people with His gospel.  What we are seeing in the seals is the continuing unfolding of the early and ongoing history of the Christian era.  Where and when the gospel is proclaimed, opposition always follows.

When the third seal is broken John sees a rider on a black horse with scales in his hand.  This third apocalyptic is the exact opposite color of the first horse.  This obviously suggests that the gospel of the righteousness of Christ is rejected and almost unknown.  That results in a spiritual famine symbolized by the weighing of wheat and barley.  This symbol is taken from Lev. 26:26 where it refers to God’s judgment on a rebellious people who suffer from a literal famine.  This symbol shows a progress in history when the apostolic gospel was replaced by a hierarchal religion which counterfeited the gospel of faith in the risen Christ as the only hope of salvation.  Now adherents were mandated to look to the church and its doctrinal system for their hope.  This continued for over 1000 years.  However, the heavenly voice declared, “Do not harm the oil and the wine” suggesting a restricted judgment—God protecting His gospel in this time of spiritual scarcity.  God cares!

The name of the rider on the fourth “pale” horse (6:7-8) was “Death” and “Hades”, that is the grave, followed him.  There is an intensity as time progresses of the state of spiritual declension symbolized by the deathly pale color of the fourth horse.  Heresies and errors increase.  Death and Hades are given “power” (authority) to kill with the four judgments mentioned.  It is noteworthy that these four judgments had been sent earlier by Israel’s God on the old-covenant people (Ezek. 14:21).  This fourth rider gathers the results of the previous riders representing the prolonged state of the medieval church.  Christian world history shows that the Omniscient God reveals His pre-knowledge of the Christian church and that Christ is in charge of it.  Seals 2 through 4 show an increasing hardening of the unbelieving inhabitants of the earth, as they reject the gospel message of the white-horseman.

As we approach the description of the last three seals, which will be the subject of article 14, we find significant differences.  There are no living creatures summoning horses of differing colors and their riders.  In the opening of the fifth seal, we hear the cries of those who have responded positively to the white-horse conqueror and have paid the ultimate price asking God “how long” until He will delay to avenge and judge their martyrdom.  God is listening, white robes and rest are their comfort until God’s objectives are complete.  When the sixth seal opens it appears that the answers to the martyrs’ cries is “not long”!  The opposers and oppressors of God’s people are now the ones crying for the elements to hide them “from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand” (6:16-17).  With the opening of the seventh seal (8:1) “there is silence in heaven for about half an hour.”  God’s great plan is moving to its end!

~Rex Frost