Revelation 6:1-8 - Sealed Fate of Rejecting Christ

Revelation 6:1-8

First Seal: The Conqueror

1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Second Seal: Conflict on Earth

3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

The seals opened by the Lamb of God for John to see of what is to come upon the world as judgment unfolds begin with these four.  First, the man on a white horse would come to conquer as an ongoing campaign using his bow to strike down the opposition and would be crowned with authoritative power to enable him to do so for an apparently extended period of time as he was to be seen conquering with the aim of subjugating all he came against.  The second seal opened by the Lamb who alone was worthy and able to reveal what had already been predetermined by God’s hand in writing there revealed a fiery red steed with a ferocious man riding it.  He was seen to go about the world to take away the peace and tranquility of all people in the midst of the ravaging of wars begun by the conqueror on the first horse.  He incites further wars so that the nations and peoples turn on one another in violent conflict as he wields an immense sword himself to spur them on.  The third seal was opened to reveal a dark horse with a man holding scales to measure out scarce amounts of food to the world at exorbitant prices no one could afford.  This dark rider would bring famine and death through starvation and likely further incite violence to take what little would remain from one another as the lack of peace and warring conflict would drive people to such extreme measures to survive.  When the fourth seal was removed from the scroll and it was unrolled further, it revealed a pale horse of ghastly implications.  Death sat on this dimly colored steed as John heard the fourth living creature tell him to come closer and observe what he saw to record it for us to contemplate.  This death rider was followed by Hades right behind him to show that judgment after death to those not in the Lamb who is Christ would suffer (Hebrews 9:27-28) and face an eternal punishment of torment (Matthew 25:46, 1 John 4:18).  This death and Hell as we call it would be going around with the power to kill off a fourth of the world’s population by means of violence, starvation, deadly diseases, and wild animals gone amok in the devastation and destruction of society.  These first four revelations from the scroll as it will be unsealed and progressively unrolled show us that God’s judgment will be terrible on those who reject His Son through repentance and faith (Mark 1:15, John 8:24, 12:48, 1 John 5:10-11) as the gospel revelation shows us and the recorded word of the Lord testifies to all.  These happenings are what will come in the sealed fate of rejecting Jesus Christ in the end.  It is far better to now listen to God’s word (John 20:31) in the gospel and turn in repentance and faith (John 3:17-18, 5:24, 6:40) than face such eternal suffering.