Laws Publishing
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REVELATION: AN OVERVIEW (Part IV) |
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(Chapter 6) |
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Jim
Laws |
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In chapter five you will remember that God's book is revealed containing the "things which must come to pass." However, it was closed with seven seals. The "lamb standing as though it had been slain" (Christ) takes the book out of the right hand of Him that sits on the throne (5:7) so that He can loose its seals and reveal its contents. The contents are dramatized rather than read. In chapter six John describes what followed the opening of the seals. The opening of the first four seals reveals conditions on earth with the last three relating to divine matters. A white horse comes forth, and the one who sat upon him had a bow, and a crown was given to him, "and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (6:2). Here is but a reference to the conquering Christ (see Rev. 5:5). The reference to "white" has two significant aspects, one being the cause of Christ is pure and completely sinless, and the other being the complete victory of His cause over the enemies of God and His purposes is certain. The opening of the second seal reveals a picture of bloodshed by means of the red horse (each time the color given is significant) and its rider (vv. 3-4). The world is not wise; it rejects heaven's message. It is a picture of persecution, which always take place with the successful preaching of the Gospel. The opening of the third seal reveals famine by using the image of the black horse and its rider (vv. 5-6). Such symbols as the "balances" and "weighting bread" suggest economic hardship. It reveals a persecution due to economic hardship. It reveals a persecution due to economic hard times upon the church. The seal therefore symbolizes extreme hardship and poverty to be experienced. The fourth seal reveals a pale horse and his rider who is called death (vv. 7-8). The first horse was white but this one is pale the color of a corpse. "Hades" follows the rider called death. The fifth seal reveals the souls under the altar (vv. 9-11). They are under the altar because of their willingness to stand for the truth. They have lost their lives for doing so. It was not their fault that their lives had been lost. In chapter twenty-one we will see these martyrs again, only then they will appear in triumph. These martyrs, those who have sacrificed their lives for Christ, have not gone unnoticed by the Lord. The martyrs are robed in white, a symbol of purity, and they make the request of Him, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that sell on the earth"? (v. 10). Their request is not so much a request for vengeance as it is one calling for God's glorification and vindication. However, we should remember that vengeance for sin will be God's vengeance II Thess. 1:7-9). The opening of the sixth seal reveals a great earthquake; the sun became black and the moon became as blood, a reference no doubt to the end of the world (v. 12). In fact, verse 17 refers to it as "the great day." With the end of the world one finds complete destruction, as it is depicted here. The opening of the sixth seal affects men of every walk of life (vv. 15-16). This great day of the wrath of God is come (v. 17). |
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In many respects the sixth chapter of the book serves as a good summary for the rest of the book of Revelation. Christ and the Gospel symbolized by the rider of the white horse, the consequences of rejecting Christ and the Gospel. The saints have asked the question of whether evil men are to escape the consequences of their actions, and the answer comes back clearly, No! There will be no escape from a rejection of the Gospel of Christ.
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