Before entering upon the consideration of this portion of the Rev. 1 would briefly revert to chapters 4, 5. The substance of the instruction I derive from them, in one little word, is this—that the Divine Power has taken another and a new position, in which and from which to exercise itself, separate and distinct from that in which it had revealed itself as connected, properly speaking, with the present dispensation. Such I conceive to be the instruction meant to be conveyed by the representation in chapter 4; while the purpose and object of this new throne seem taught by the circumstances revealed in connection with it, especially in chapter 5—even the bringing in, for Christ and the church in Him, of the day of glory; and this brought about by the exercise of the Almighty power which created and upholds all things, so over-ruling all things for Christ and the church from this throne,. This throne will be found to be the center, source, and regulator of all the vast machinery and means presented in the sum of the book, as well as the place whence the Lamb revealed to John, for the church, the history of these coming actions of the power of the God of creation and providence.
These two things are in themselves, and must be kept by us, very distinct: as connected with the active energy of the former, the Lamb never appears in the character of the Lamb upon the throne throughout the book; the latter being the only circumstances in which as the Lamb He acts from this throne; for He is on the throne, and has had this blessed honor and service assigned to Him there, thence to reveal to John, for the church, the history of the actions of the power of God as Creator and Sustainer, bringing in the day of His own glory as Redeemer. The doing of this, however, is the work of God, properly speaking, as Creator—unto whom, when in weakness, He (Jesus) “committed himself as unto one that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:2323Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:23)); concerning whom He has said, “I will put my trust in him” (Heb. 2:1313And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13)); and on whose word to take the kingdom and glory He waits. While the Lamb takes no part, as upon the throne, in the actions subject to it, which are to prepare the way for His coming glory, it is He preeminently to whose intervention the church is indebted for the knowledge of these coming things. And this gives us as saints our confidence in studying what is thus presented to us—it is shown to us by the Lamb Himself. It enables us also (since He whose book it was intended it should be thus revealed by the Lamb from the throne to John) to understand the preparative character of all that precedes the opening of the seventh seal. Till He has opened the seventh seal, the Lamb is seen upon the throne, showing to John, for the saints, things which must shortly come to pass; but upon the opening of the seventh seal, we see no more of the Lamb upon the throne, but Himself in the new character of an angel by the altar, gives the signal for its tale of disaster to be told.
The object of the first seals is, I conceive, to prepare the saints' minds for the sum and substance of the seventh; for I cannot for a moment admit that the unity of the roll and the consecutive order of its seven parts, is to be set aside by supposing that the revelation, consequent upon the opening of any of the seals preceding the fast, leads down to the end, and that a subsequent seal recommences from the beginning. I know some have thought that the seals thus present three courses from the beginning of time to the end; but such an interpretation is to me incorrect, and destructive of the internal perfectness and unity of the book. To proceed with the seals, which commence the portion proposed for inquiry. The four first are distinguished from the rest by the call severally, upon the breaking of the seal, of the living creatures, to “come and see;” these four present us with living agents going forth to the earth: the result of the fifth seal is different; John looks under the altar, and learns what is the present state and expectation of the souls of those slain for the word of God, &c., and that their number is still to be added to from the earth; during the doing of which they must still wait for the full enjoyment of the white robes then given to them, for the day of vengeance was not yet come.
The sixth introduces a great earthquake, and such as might take place any day, and the thoughts of men about it—thoughts very natural to man as a fallen being about such things at all times. Then comes a parenthesis: four angels come forward, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, but they are withholden from so doing till the servants of God on earth are sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of Israel are then sealed on earth, and from them the eye of the apostle rises to the great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne and the Lamb. They are certified to him to be the heavenly family; and these from among the nations are thus seen at rest before the remnant of Israel gets into trouble. Then (chap. 8:1) the Lamb breaks the seventh seal, and the seven trumpet-angels of sorrow and woe take their place. Yet another parenthesis follows, for the first blast is not until upon a signal given by another angel, and He confessedly the Mediator. There, at the golden altar, with his golden censer and much incense, having offered up the prayers of all saints, he casts the censer, filled with fire from the altar, to the earth; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake, and the angels begin to sound of woe. There is something very gracious in these parentheses, the subject-matter of which gives so much repose, as showing how nothing can touch the disciple of Christ—even the messengers of God's sorrows to the wicked utter not their messages, save as at the command of Him who is Mediator to us.
The unity of the book will, I believe, be found to be to many the clue to much of the difficulty; in examining hereafter more closely the substance of the book as a whole, and the exact import of the revelation which follows the breaking of each seal, this will be, I believe, abundantly confirmed and established; at present I would only say, that so naturally and strongly does unity and consecutiveness of order in the seals suggest itself upon the first aspect of the matter, that very strong evidence ought to be required from those who would have the contrary received by us. The idea of consecutive order in the seals is more strongly suggested to the mind by the writing being upon a roll, than if in such a thing as a modern book. The order of breaking would be the reverse of that of making the seals. For when the whole was written on both sides, the first seal would be placed after rolling a little of that which, by further rolling for the second seal, would become the roller on which the winding afterward proceeded. The opening of the seal first made, of course, could not take place till the whole of the outer six seals had been broken. The object of the six first, and of the parenthesis which follows the sixth and precedes the seventh, I conceive to be simply preparative. This parenthesis also seems to be just a commentary on the fifth and sixth seal; as showing who these brethren and fellow-servants that were yet to be killed are, and why, when the earthquake came, there was only fear from the men of the world, and no joyful shout from the disciples, “Jesus is come!” for this parenthesis tells us a remnant of Jews upon earth were sealed, and the disciples out of the trouble and trial in the heavens—not, however, in the full enjoyment of their glory, for their Bridegroom has not taken His own throne; but they rest before Him still sitting upon the throne of divine Providence. Thus I find the Lord sitting in rest at the right hand of power, and His sole action (as connected with this throne) the communication of the history of its actings to John; but directly the disciples are housed, and God's purposes as connected with the earth are alone in question, I find Him in action (as the emissary of this throne, however, still), till He takes His place definitely on Mount Zion with the one hundred and forty-four thousand redeemed from the earth unto God and Himself.
To examine now more closely the import of the revelation which follows the breaking of each seal, as was proposed.
The four first seals seem marked off, in some respects, from the rest by their having, in common to themselves alone, the introduction of the cry from the living creatures to “come and see,” and by the substance of each of them being a horse and a rider going forth in aggressive agency from the throne to the earth.
The living creatures, as I have said, find this throne the place of their support, “for they were in the midst of the throne and round about the throne” (chap.4:6), and are, if my interpretation of them is correct, the representative heads of those classes of creatures which needed and found refuge in the ark, in the deluge, and with whom the covenant to Noah was formed—the wild beast, the cattle, the fowls of the air, and may; parts of the fifth and sixth day's creation—they are representative heads of all the classes wherein was the breath of life; the rest of creation, as the fish and plants, &c., needed not a refuge from the deluge. From their connection with these four riders, and their works, I judge that there must be some natural and palpable connection between that which the living creatures represent, and that which the riders represent and do; and, more than that, a connection of deep interest to the living creatures, for no sooner do they discern the horses than they cry, “Come and see.” If creation, as connected with the Noahic covenant, is what the living creatures represent (as I believe it assuredly is), then creation, as connected with the Noahic covenant (the signs and marks of which are also pre-eminently stamped upon the throne which sustains these creatures, see chap. 4.), must, I believe, be deeply interested in the works of these riders.
As to the riders, what they are, I do not think any one can doubt who takes a review of the passages in which horses, and riders, and chariots of horses are representatively presented as connected with other things than those which literally they are the names of. Whether we turn to 2 Kings 2:12; 13:14,12And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. (2 Kings 2:12)
14Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. (2 Kings 13:14) or to Zech. 1:8; 6:2, 3, 6,8I 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. (Zechariah 1:8)
2In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; 3And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. (Zechariah 6:2‑3)
6The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. (Zechariah 6:6) I find them uniformly to represent angelic agencies, never to be symbols of earthly things, as far as I remember. Any one, running in thought through the connection of Israel's history, in its various parts with God, may see at once the use our God makes of these angelic powers in His kingdom of providence; and the throne now before us is the throne of the Lord God Almighty, His names as Creator and Sustainer of all things. Of the distinctive character of each of these aggressive angelic agencies, thus going from the throne of providence, we shall see more hereafter. For besides these things possessed in common by the four first seals, each of them has its distinctive peculiarity, which we will now consider, and then their interpretation.
First Seal.—There seems much peculiar to the first seal as distinguishing it from the rest of the four first. For instance, “the voice of thunder” is not mentioned in any of the others; the color of the horse is the same as that on which the King of kings and the Lord of lords, with His attendant bands (in chap. 19: 11-14) ride; the color, too, used as expressive of glory (Matt. 17:2; 28:3,2And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (Matthew 17:2)
3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: (Matthew 28:3) &c.), of divine majesty (Rev. 1), of purity (chap. 7: 9-13, &c.). Again, the rider had neither the implement of his aggressive action, nor any commission given to him—neither indebted to, nor restrained by, a commission. He possessed a bow, was recognized as conqueror by the gift of the crown, and went forth, in the energy of his own might, unordered, conquering and to conquer. The bow also is the weapon of aggressive war from the distance.
Second Seal.—The whole seal is evidently very subordinate to the preceding. No voice of thunder heard, no emphatic “I saw and behold;” but simply, “there came forth another horse, red,” with a rider on its back: he has no power of his own, like the first; no implement of his own, like the first and third; nor any name, like the fourth. And though the action be more definite than the first, it is of narrower range, and in character lower than that of any of the rest. No commission is definitely given to him, but only liberty and authority to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; liberty and authority (the great sword), that is, to do that to which there is in fallen man the fullest propensity and readiness, just simply when left to himself. Who can remember the first scenes of man's history, after his exclusion from Eden, and not sigh at this likeness of fallen Adam stamped upon our Cainish race?
Third Seal.—Besides the announcement of the living creature, “Come and see,” and John's emphatic “I saw and behold,” there is a peculiar energy in this vision” there was a black horse, and its rider self-possessed of his implement;” his commission also is definitely given either by Him that sat upon the throne or the Lamb, for they only were in the midst of the four living creatures whence the voice came. The commission is very definite, but in nature it is very high; because, to an office not altogether above the range of man, but one most closely connected with the testimony God has been pleased to give of Himself even to the heathen, in fruitful seasons—to the regulation of famine. The corn and the barley, the oil and the wine, are all had in remembrance.
Fourth Seal.—The natural name and attendant of the fourth rider (whose horse was greenish-white), Death: his name and Hades his pursuivant, give him (as well as the language in which he is described) distinction. His service is not under a formally given commission, even as the second, yet more is implied here, I think, than there. There it is said, “it was given to him to take peace from the earth and a great sword;” but here, “power was given to them [both] to kill on the fourth part of the earth with sword, and famine, and death, and the beasts of the earth.” There the second rider set others to kill one another, here these two themselves are at the deadly work. Liberty and authority to stir up the bad passions of men seem to be less of commission than the communication of power to mow down a fourth of the earth, not only by the sword, which is in man's hand—in one sense at least—but also by famine, death, and the wild beasts, which are in God's. The pre-eminence of this rider also is seen in the power conceded to him to use those things over which the two preceding riders were set.