Chapter 6: The Judgments of the First Six Seals

It is “the Lamb who was slain” who launches judgments on the world. His long session of almost two thousand years “on the right hand of the majesty on high” (Heb. 1:33Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)) is over. The wheat has been gathered into the barn. The thundering voice of the first living creature calls on John to “come and see” the unfolding of this mighty drama. The Lamb opens one of the seals. Briefly I will comment on what John saw.
First Seal (Verse 2) — A white horse, his rider having a bow. A crown is given him, and he proceeds on a mission of conquest. There is no bloodshed. A great one arises to meet the need of the moment. Don’t think the departure of the saints has not disturbed the world! The soothing doctrine of this conqueror will be the “peace and safety” of 1 Thessalonians 5:33For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
Second Seal (Verse 4) — What the second living creature called John to see was the “sudden destruction” of 1 Thessalonians 5:3,3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3) previously referred to—peace altogether gone—instead of safety a civil war of awful intensity—a great sword. Verse eight shows this will take place in “the fourth part of the earth,” namely in Europe, the erstwhile (former) cradle of Christianity. Already the opponents who will be engaged in the sanguinary (gruesome) conflict have emerged. The opposing elements of left and right were clearly brought into focus in the French general elections in the spring of 1967 when General De Gaulle obtained a majority of only one. And is not the Communist party in Italy gaining strength rapidly under the very shadow of the Vatican?
Third Seal (Verses 5-6) — The famine conditions which follow war.
Fourth Seal (Verses 7-8) — Here we have the grim reaper gathering up his harvest, the result of God’s four “sore judgments” corresponding to those given in Ezekiel 14:2121For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? (Ezekiel 14:21).
Fifth Seal (Verses 9-11) — These verses show us what has been going on in “the Holy Land” while war rages in Europe. The godly one in Jerusalem, and the land of Judah will be cast out of the temple by their ungodly idolatrous brethren. Matthew 24:99Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. (Matthew 24:9) refers to this period—“then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you.” Such a reward for their piety was not understood by them—hence their inquiry. They are justified for their conduct (white robes) and they learn that there are others to follow them into martyrdom. This is the class referred to in Revelation 20:66Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6). They have part in the first resurrection, along with the Old Testament saints, and the church. Like them, they too will be priests of God and of Christ, reigning with Him a thousand years. Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they will receive the Kingdom on its heavenly side.
Sixth Seal (verses 12-17) — Here we have the aftermath of an appalling, devastating war. It will be remembered that the rider on the red horse was given “a great sword.” There was a “great earthquake”—a tremendous upheaval, and dislocation of society as we know it now. In the vision the sun was black, the moon blood colored, and the stars fell from the heavens. Now in Genesis 1 we find God set the sun to rule the day, the moon to rule the night. The stars, too, affect the earth as we learn from Judges 5:2020They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. (Judges 5:20)—“the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” The vision then plainly indicates the subversion of governments, supreme and derived—rule and authority. Everything hitherto stable, mountains and islands, were moved out of their places. All are affected kings and this world’s “great,” as well as those in humbler walks of life. They are afraid—they hide themselves, and what is important to notice is that they attribute the catastrophe to “the wrath of the Lamb.” They had knowledge of “the Lamb,” and this confirms my thought, that this judgment falls on the sphere where, the truth of God and the gospel have been freely made known and refused—that is, the West.
Seventh Seal — The Last seal is not opened until we reach Chapter eight. Chapter seven is a parenthesis. This shows us that the Revelation is not a description of events which will take place in sequence. God writes His thoughts, conveying to us what is in His mind. What our finite minds can scarcely grasp is that He is carrying on various works, in different spheres, at one and the same time.