Revelation 6:1-8:1
 
 

The First Seal: Conquest
 

Rev. 6:1,2 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Now what can we get from this passage. Most people refer to this horse as Conquest. Let's look at several things. First, in biblical times, a king would ride on a horse when he was coming to conquer, and on a donkey when he came in peace (as shown on Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into town on the back of a donkey). Also, there is the fact that the rider was given a crown. These facts lead me to believe that the white horseman will be a ruler, maybe the infamous AntiChrist (more on this in later passages). Then there is the fact that he was given a bow, yet no arrows. This, many people believe, seems to show that he will conquer through peace, not war, or not through his might, but through the battle strength of others.
 

 The Second Seal: War
  This passage is a little harder. Again, there is a rider on a horse. Of course I don't know for sure, but I feel that this rider is probably not in reference to a physical ruler, but to a spiritual condition. This rider is generally known as War, and I think that's what he is, just a spiritual embodiment of war, maybe that waged by the first horseman. As all the other signs in Revelation, he is not pleasant, but the meaning of these things is not to make life easier, but to punish people for their wickedness, and by showing them a preview of what Hell will be like, give them one last chance to repent.
   The Third Seal: Famine
  Rev. 6:5,6 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

 
This rider, Famine, seems to signify a great famine. Some writers think that the four horseman were actually released at the beginning of this century, which has some reason considering it has been one of the bloodiest centuries in our history, including the fact that more Christians have been killed for their faith in this century than all other 19 combined, but I am not sure of this fact. As with all prophecies, it is subject to interpretation, and I don't know which is true. Either way, these first three horseman obviously just lead the way and bring on the last, Death.
 

 The Fourth Seal: Death
  Rev. 6:7,8 When the Lamb opened the fourth I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
 

The Pale horseman, I believe, is partly a result of the first three. Conquest, war and famine would necessitate and cause death to not be close behind.

 

 Death Toll Footnote: 4.5 billion or 4,500,000,000 people left after fourth horseman.

 
The Fifth Seal: Martyrs
 

                Rev. 6:9-11 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls
                of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony
                they had maintained.  They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign
                Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge
                our blood?"  Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told
                to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers
                who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

                In this passage, all the martyrs for down through the ages gather before God's
                throne and ask him to avenge their deaths.  He replies not yet, as more still
                must die.  I think that this refers to all those who will die during the seven years
                described in Revelation, which many call the Tribulation.  As Satan has complete
                control of the earth, through his servant the AntiChrist, many Christians will be
                killed for their faith, and I believe that these are the ones God refers to here.
 

The Sixth Seal: First Earthquake
 

                Rev. 6:12-17 I watched as he opened the seal.  There was a great earthquake.
                The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, and the whole moon
                turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a
                fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.  The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up,
                and every mountain and island was removed from its place.  Then the kings of
                the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and
                every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.  They called
                to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who
                sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of their
                wrath has come, and who can stand?"

                Matt. 24:29 Immediately after the distress of those days "the sun will be
                darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and
                the heavenly bodies will be shaken."

                In this passage we see that there is a great earthquake.  This is easy enough to
                understand.  But then we see what happens to the stars, the moon and the sun.
                These are a little harder to explain.  One explanation is that there is just a solar
                eclipse and a meteor shower.  But if you look at the quote from Matthew(which
                actually is Jesus quoting Isaiah), it seems more likely that the earthquake
                causes volcanic eruptions, and that the ash from these blocks out the sun, the
                moon and the stars.  This would also explain the mountains and islands moving,
                and flaming ash and lava could also be the stars falling to earth.
 

144,000 Sealed
 

                Rev. 7:1-4 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
                holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the
                land or on the sea or on any tree.  Then I saw another angel coming up from the
                east, having the seal of the living God.  He called out in a loud voice to the four
                angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the
                land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of
                our God."  Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all
                tribes of Israel.

                Then is given the fact that there were 12,000 people sealed from each of the
                twelve tribes of Israel.  Most people, my self included, think that these will
                probably be people of Jewish descent, not all of them extremely religious, but
                all people who have seen the import of what is befalling the world in these last
                days, and have given their lives over to Christ.  These people are chosen to be
                the special servants of God, and his witnesses in the last days.
 

The Great Multitude in White Robes
 

                Rev. 7:9-10  After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that
                no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing
                before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and
                were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:
                "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

                I believe that these are all people who were martyred for their faith from the
                time Jesus left this earth until the last day.  Some people say that this is just the
                rapture, but I disagree.  I don't believe in a pre-tribulation rapture.
 

The Seventh Seal: Silence
 

                Rev. 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for
                about half an hour.

                We don't really know what the Seventh Seal was, but it was something so
                profound that it silenced all in heaven for half an hour.  Due to the fact that it
                says nothing of anything happening on earth, I would guess that it's something
                that is only seen or felt in the spiritual realm.
 
 

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