Tagged: Jesus Christ

The fourth seal (Rev. 6:7-8)

Previously: Do not harm the olive oil and the wine (Rev. 6:5-6)

The scripture

Rev. 6:7 – When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth” (HCSB).

When Jesus opens the fourth seal, the fourth living creature thunders, “Come!” and a horse and rider appear. This horse, the last of the four, is a ghastly grayish green. The rider is called by name – Hades, the Greek word for the abode of the dead – and Death follows closely behind. This frightful duo is granted authority to strike a fourth of the population by sword, famine, plague and wild animals.

What does all this mean to John’s first-century readers? And what does it mean to us today? Let’s take a closer look.

The fourth seal

The Lamb opens the fourth seal, enabling the fourth living creature to call for the fourth horse and rider. Recapping what’s been written in previous chapters before about seals, they likely are pieces of wax or clay that have been stamped with a ring or other metal object bearing the insignia of the owner. They identify the person who has authorized what’s been written. The seal may be broken only by a designated authority, in this case the Lamb. As each seal is broken, it gives way to another portion of the scroll until all seven seals are removed and the full message is revealed.

As the seal is opened, John hears the fourth living creature say, “Come!” This call probably is not to John but to the horse and rider, who appear at once.

A pale green horse

This horse is described as pale green or greenish gray, the ashen color of death. And no wonder, for the rider upon him is named Death. The Greek word used here to describe the horse’s color, chloros, is the same word used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe vegetation. In Mark 6:39, for example, the Gospel writer records that Jesus has the multitudes sit down in groups on the “green grass.” In Rev. 8:7, at the first trumpet judgment, the “green grass” is burned up. And in Rev. 9:4, the locusts are told not to harm the “grass of the earth.”

What a stark contrast this horse is to the others: white, fiery red (yes, horses can be varying hues of red), and black. But what horse is the color of faded summer vegetation? Perhaps like the grass, which eventually withers and dies, this horse symbolizes the fleeting nature of human life – “As for man, his days are like grass,” Ps. 103:15 – and the inevitability of death and judgment. Consider these passages of scripture, particularly as they speak to death and judgment of the wicked:

  • Ps. 92:7 – “though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will eventually be destroyed.”
  • Ps. 129:6 –“Let them [all who hate Zion] be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it grows up.”
  • Isa. 5:24 – “Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots [those of the wicked in Judah] will become like something rotten and their blossoms will blow away like dust.”
  • James 1:11 – “For the sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will wither away while pursuing his activities.”
  • 1 Peter 1:24-25 – “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower drops off, but the word of the Lord endures forever” (quoting Isa. 40:6-8)

Ultimately, youth gives way to old age, vitality to inertia, health to illness, riches to ashes, life to death. While the clock ticks on the life of the unbeliever as he speeds headlong into a Christ-less eternity, the stark reality of death involves even the faithful Christian and is a reminder that the whole world groans beneath the weight of sin (Rom. 8:22). The difference, however, is that Christians – and creation itself – wait eagerly to “be set free from the bondage of corruption” (Rom. 8:21). For the wicked, Death comes on a pale green horse, with Hades close behind.

Next: A horseman named Death (Rev. 6:7-8)

A balance scale in the rider’s hand (Rev. 6:5-6)

Previously: A black horse (Rev. 6:5-6)

The scripture

Rev. 6:5 – When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a balance scale in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius – but do not harm the olive oil and the wine” (HCSB).

A balance scale in the rider’s hand

The rider on the black horse holds in his hand a balance scale, an instrument used to measure such commodities as wheat and barley. John hears “something like a voice among the four living creatures say, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius – but do not harm the olive oil and the wine’” (v. 6). While merchants sometimes rig their balances to profit from unsuspecting customers, scripture often uses this instrument as a symbol of fairness and justice. For example, in Job’s final claim of innocence he declares, “[L]et God weigh me with an accurate balance, and He will recognize my integrity” (Job 31:6). David writes in Psalm 62:9, “Men are only a vapor; exalted men, an illusion. On a balance scale, they go up; together they [weigh] less than a vapor.” And in Proverbs 11:1 Solomon reminds us that “Dishonest scales are detestable to the Lord, but an accurate weight is His delight.”

Wheat and barley are measured in Revelation 6, and it appears these staples are scarce because people are paying a denarius – a day’s wage for a laborer (see Matt. 20:2) – for a relatively small amount of these essential grains. “To eat bread by weight” is a Jewish phrase indicating that food supplies are sparse (Lev. 26:26). A quart of wheat is enough to sustain one person for one day; three quarts of barley are sufficient to feed three people for a day. So a laborer would have to resort to less-expensive grain in order to feed his family. Normally, a person in John’s time could buy eight to 12 quarts of wheat for a day’s wage, and much more barley. It seems this famine, as all others, falls most severely on the poor, who spend their entire wages on dwindling quantities of food, without spare funds for olive oil and wine, the delicacies of the rich.

Is there a spiritual message here? Matthew Henry comments: “When a people loathe their spiritual food, God may justly deprive them of their daily bread. One judgment seldom comes alone; the judgment of war naturally draws after it that of famine; and those who will not humble themselves under one judgment must expect another and yet greater, for when God contends he will prevail. The famine of bread is a terrible judgment; but the famine of the word is more so, though careless sinners are not sensible of it” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, Re 6:3-8).

Next: Do not harm the olive oil and the wine (Rev. 6:5-6)

Revelation 4-5: Download the free study

If you’re a follower of this blog, you know that we’ve been slowly working our way through the Book of Revelation (and with great fear and trembling, especially since this is such a challenging piece of Scripture). We still have a long way to go. You can read the posts to date by clicking here.

Whether you’re a preterist, who sees the events of Revelation as fulfilled in the first centuries of the Christian era, a historicist, who views the events of Revelation as unfolding throughout the course of history, a futurist, who sees most of Revelation as yet unfulfilled, or an idealist, who sees Revelation setting forth timeless truths concerning the battle between good and evil, there are important truths the Lord reveals to all of us in this book, and we would do well to approach Revelation with caution — and with great anticipation, knowing God will fulfill all His promises to us. We also should be comforted by the fact that Revelation is the only book in Scripture specifically promising a blessing to those who hear its prophecies and keep them.

With that in mind, and to make it easier to keep our notes together,we have captured a number of blog posts into single Adobe files (pdfs) that you may download, print and share. Click on the link below to capture notes on chapters 4-5. If you missed the link to notes on chapters 1-3, a link is provided as well.

Download the pdf: Revelation 4-5

Download Introduction to Revelation and chapters 1-3

A black horse (Rev. 6:5-6)

Previously: The third seal (Rev. 6:5-6)

The scripture

Rev. 6:5-6 – When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a balance scale in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius – but do not harm the olive oil and the wine” (HCSB).

A black horse

This horse is black, the color of sadness and want, according to some commentators. It is the color of a starless sky, the absence of light, a terror especially in ancient times when the lack of a torch or lamp would paralyze a person seeking to find his way. It symbolizes sin and death. For the unbeliever, we are told that hell is “outer darkness” away from the presence of God, Who is light (1 John 1:5); it is the “blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13). It also is the color of earthly judgment, for in Rev. 6:12 we see that the sun turns black like sackcloth made of goat’s hair.

Black often is used to denote the color of physical objects, according to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary: hair (Lev. 13:31, 37; Song 5:11); skin (Job 30:30; Song 1:5–6; Lam. 4:8); the sky as a sign of rain (1 Kings 18:45); and animals (Gen. 30:32–43; Zech. 6:2, 6; Rev. 6:5). “Black” also is used figuratively to describe mourning (Job 30:28; Jer. 4:28; 8:21; 14:2); a visionless day (Mic. 3:6); the abode of the dead (Job 3:5; Jude 13); and the treachery of Job’s friends (Job 6:16)

In Rev. 6:5, the horse’s black color no doubt signifies famine, for the description of the rider and his scales tells us that food is a scarce and expensive commodity.

Next: A balance scale in the rider’s hand (Rev. 6:5-6)

The second seal (Rev. 6:3-4)

Previously: A bow and a crown (Rev. 6:1-2)

The scripture

Rev. 6:3 – When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him (HCSB).

The opening of the second seal, like the first, is accompanied by one of the living creatures saying, “Come!” and a horse and rider bursting onto the scene. This is a horse of a different color, however – fiery red – and the horseman has been given the authority to plunge the world into warfare. While the first rider, on a white horse, is given a bow, the second rider is presented with a large sword. Let’s look more closely at these verses and see, first of all, if we may determine what this means to a first-century audience. Then we will explore the possibilities for today’s audience.

Jesus now breaks the second seal on the scroll. Remember that these seals likely are pieces of wax or clay that have been stamped with a ring or other metal object bearing the insignia of the owner. They identify the one who has authorized what’s been written, and the seal may be broken only by the designated authority, in this case the Lamb. Likely, as each seal is broken, it allows another portion of the scroll to be unraveled, until all seven seals are removed and the full message is revealed.

As the seal is opened, John hears the second living creature say, “Come!” As we learned in the last lesson, this call probably is not to John but to the horse and rider, who appear obediently.

Next: A fiery red horse (Rev. 6:3-4)