The worship in Revelation 4 & Revelation 5 is preparation for the wrath of God in Chapters 6-19. This may appear strange to us—that worship and wrath should go together—but this only because we do not fully comprehend the holiness of God or the sinfulness of man.
Rev 4:1: “I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
Man tells us that the world is getting better;
God say they will become increasingly worse .
Man says that peace among nations is close at hand;
God says there will be wars and rumors of wars,
kingdom against kingdoms...
Man expects to win the battle against disease, famine, and hardship;
God says there is to be fearful judgements of
disease, famine, and hardship.
Matthew 24: Note its Jewishness—Mat 24:15 points to Daniel 9. [See Daniel’s 70 Weeks. ]
Christ’s unfulfilled mandate (Isa 61:1-2) as our “Avenger of Blood” (Isa 61:2) is about to begin.
[In no previous period of mankind have “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ.” (Rev 11:15)]
As we embark on the next 14 action-filled chapters that detail the “70th Week” of Daniel, recognize that the style of communication has been engineered to provide a timeless message of truth to every generation, not just to those who are alive when these events occur (Rev 13:9; Rev 16:15; Rev 22:7, 18-20 highlight the timelessness of the message).
[1] “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living creatures saying, Come and see”: When the subject concerns heaven, the elders speak. When it concerns the earth, the living creatures speak.
“Come” {erkou’ }: Proceed. Ordered by one of the living creatures. Proceed: erchomai {er’-khom-ahee} The middle voice of a primary verb (used only in the present and imperfect tenses; to come, of persons, to come from one place to another, and used of persons arriving, to appear, make one’s appearance, come before the public; to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence; be established, become known, to come (fall) into or unto; to go, to follow one.
Horses = judgments (2Ki 6:15-18; Jer 46:9-10; Joel 2:3-11; Nahum 3:1-7; Zech 1:8-11; Zech 6:1-7).
[2] “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow...”: Bow: Darts, arrows (Eph 6:6) vs. sword (Rev 19:15; Eph 6:16; Mat 10:34).
1) Symbol of Nimrod the hunter?
2) Same word as signified the promise to Noah (this seems to be missed by most commentators)
Hebrew: qesheth {keh’-sheth} (LXX) Greek: toxon
1) bow; 1a) bow (for hunting, battle); 1b) bowmen, archers; 1c) bow (figure of might); 1d) rainbow.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
The rider is, indeed, the “Prince that shall come.” His career begins as a peacemaker, with the covenant of peace with Israel (Dan 9:26-27): He shall confirm the covenant with (the) many for one (the 70th) week, but in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease...
“Crown”: stephanos, the victor’s crown, not a diadem . Christ will wear a diadema, the crown of a sovereign, reigning monarch (Rev 19:12).
[Rider is NOT Christ: this guy keeps bad company. He will resemble Christ; it is interesting how many commentators are also fooled! Furthermore, this one is called by the living creatures; hardly fitting for Christ Himself.]
“conquering, and to conquer” = overcoming, and to overcome: Eze 14:21; Mat 24:5; Mar 13:6; Luk 21:8; Isa 14:16-17. Bloodless conquest. The blood comes soon after.
White horse? Jhn 5:43. (Overcomers? Mat 16:18 vs Dan 7:21; Rev 13:7.)
[3] “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see”: The four horses and riders are each summoned by one of the four living creatures.
[4] “And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [power] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword”: Red is associated with terror and death: the red dragon (Rev 12:3) and the red beast (Rev 17:3). Cf. Mat 24:6-7; Mar 13:7-8; Luk 21:9-10; Dan 11:36.
“Sword”: (Machaira) Eze 38:21; Jer 25:15-33 (esp. Jer 23:29); Micah 7; Dan 11:33
[5] “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand”: Black is often connected with famine (Lam 4:4-8; Lam 5:10; Jer 14:1-2).
“To eat bread by weight” is a Jewish expression indicating that food is scarce (Lev 26:25-33; Cf. Eze 4:10-11, 16).
[6] “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine”:
Choenix (2 pts): measure of wheat, for a full day’s work; Homer (Odyssey XIX:XXVIII). Herodotus (VIII:CLXXXVII), gives this as consumed by each soldier in the army of Xerxes.
“Denarius”: Mat 20:2, 9-11; a day’s wage.
“Oil and wine”: equivalent, in our culture, to toiletries, beauty aids and liquor. Luxuries. This is more than famine alone. It describes global rationing and controls. The Coming World Leader will control the economy (Rev 13:17). Cf. Amos 8:11.
[7] “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see”:
[8] “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him”:
Chloros, pale, ghastly green; from which we get chlorine. In Leviticus, the color of leprosy. Cf. Mar 6:39; Rev 8:7; Rev 9:4.
Death: Devil Heb 2:14 (vs. Rev 1:18). Two personages. Death claims the body; Hades claims the soul. John saw these enemies going forth to claim their prey, armed with the weapons of the sword, hunger, pestilence (death) and wild beasts.
“Beasts”: not zoa, but therion: 1) an animal 2) a wild animal, wild beast, beast 3) metaph. a brutal, bestial man, savage, ferocious. (Remember, the most dangerous beasts are microscopic.)
When civilization crumbles, mankind’s defenses against disease crumble as well: no sanitation, safe drinking water, etc., diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, spread like a consuming fire. Other viruses—ebola, HIV, et al; biological warfare...Cf. Jer 15:2; Jer 24:10; Eze 14:21.
Romans 1 declares that God will “give them over” to their own evil passions. God confronts us with the unpleasant truth about ourselves by giving us what we demand. If we demand lies, he sill send the “powerful delusion” of the Antichrist himself. (2Th 2). If we seek to kill and destroy, we will inherit anarchy and mob rule. If we live by greed and avarice, He will give us economic upheaval and inflation. If we seek power and control, he will give us murder, intrigue, and slavery.
These four judgments are also mentioned in Eze 14:21. All these are but “Beginnings of Birthpangs.” (Cf. Isa 13:6-13; Zeph 1:14-18; 1Th 5:1-3.)
The Great Tribulation itself has yet to begin. (There are 7 Trumpets and 7 bowls of wrath still to be poured out.)
Remember Jer 30:7: Alas! for that day [is] great, so that none [is] like it: it [is] even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
There are two responses to the opening of the seals: one in heaven and the other on earth.
[9] “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held”: Cf. Mat 24:9-26; Mar 13:9-20; Luk 21:12-24.
Greek word, martus, gives us our English word martyr, which means “witness.” (The “Word of God” is also a synonym for Christ.)
“under the altar”: It is in heaven (Heb 9:23-24). Note “bottom of the altar” in Exd 29:12; Lev 4:4, 17-18, 25, 30.
[Their murderers are still alive on earth, so these martyrs lost their lives under the first 4 seals, in the early part of the Tribulation. This group also are part of the great multitude in Rev 7:9ff. Note: some believe they are the Old Testament saints, resurrected later (Dan 12:1).]
Souls are conscious (not “sleeping”): 1Th 4:14-16; 2Cr 5:8; Phil 1:23.
[10] “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
Vengeance? vs. Stephen. This signals a change of dispensation: from grace to judgment.
“How long, O Lord?” has been the cry of God’s suffering people throughout the ages (Cf. Psa 74:9-10; Psa 79:5; Psa 89:46; Psa 94:3-4; Hab 1:2). “Thy kingdom come” echoes their petition. Blood of Abel? (2Ch 24:22); Song of Moses (Deu 32:43; 2Ki 9:7).
“Lord” = despotes . The ancient Greeks used this word politically to refer to people who intruded into a land already occupied by someone else in order to take possession of it, and also to refer to an absolute ruler who had an unlimited possibility of the exercise of unchecked power. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol II, ed. By G. Kittel, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1964, p.44)
It is not personal revenge they seek, but vindication of God’s holiness and the establishment of God’s justice.
Today it appears that the enemy is winning; but God will have the last word. [Hatred of the world: Rom 8:7; Gen 3:15; Rev 12] Intolerance by the ungodly is increasing, especially among the so-called “liberals.” In seeking to be abreast of the times they have adopted the oldest errors with the most recent masks. The challenge, “Yea, Hath God Said?” echoes still. The ungodly are united with Cain in their hatred of a sacrifice of blood. God announced in Eden, “I will put enmity between... thy seed and her seed...” (Gen 3:15).
[11] “And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled”: Others will join them (Rev 11:7; Rev 12:11; Rev 14:13; Rev 20:4-5).
[12] “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood”: First of three earthquakes (Rev 6:12; Rev 11:13; Rev 16:18-19). Literal earthquakes (Exd 19:18; Exd 20:18-19; 1Ki 19:11; Mat 27:51-52).
Earthquakes (Mat 24:7); earthquakes and sun turning dark (Joel 2:2, 10, 30-31; Cf. Mat 24:39; Mar 13:24-25).
There are other cosmic disturbances which will also occur after the 6th seal (Rev 8:12; Rev 9:1-2; Rev 16:8-9). Joel 3:2. 9-15 describes the sun, moon, and stars darkened, etc., when the armies of the nations gather in Israel for war. Mat 24:29-30 describes similar signs after the Great Tribulation.
Luke 21:25 (seismos = shaking): Isa 24:1, 3-4, 19, 23; Isa 34:2-4—(11: waste and void Cf. Gap theory);—Psa 148:3-6; Heb 12:26-29; Hag 2:6; Joel 2:1, 10-12, 30-31; Joel 3:15; Zeph 1:15; Isa 13:9-10; Isa 34:2-4; Eze 32:7-8.
Moon = blood: Mat 24:29; Joel 2:31. “Nuclear winter”?
[We will see more of “the wrath of God”: Rev 11:18; Rev 14:10; Rev 16:19; Rev 19:15. We are not appointed to the “Day of wrath”: 1Th 5:9] Psa 2; Heb 10:26-31.
[14] “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places”: Nahum 1:5. Heavens departing as a scroll: Isa 34:4 (Cf. Isa 13:6-13); Heaven “stretched”: Isa 40:22; Isa 42:5; Isa 44:27; Isa 45:12; Isa 51:13; Jer 10:12; Jer 51:15; Zech 12:1).
“Mountain”: a symbol of government: Isa 14:13-14; Dan 2:35.
[15] “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains”:
The martyrs cry, “Avenge us!” The unbelievers on the earth say, “Hide Us!”
Kings hide in caves: Isa 2:10-19; (Josh 10:16: The Book of Joshua appears to be a model of the Book of Revelation. See notes on Chapter 8.)
[16] “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”: Cf. Luke 23:30.
Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; but there is no promise made to those who call upon rocks, mountains, crystals or Mother Gaia! [There is a Rock to which we can still come for refuge.]
“Wrath of the Lamb” sounds like a paradox. (Can you see a bumper sticker: “Beware of the Lamb”?) God’s wrath is the evidence of His holy love for all that is right and His holy hatred of all that is evil. He will not compromise.
It is the end of civilization. We see it beginning in our abandonment of the even the secular truths of Western Civilization, the age of deceit, and the adoption of relativism. (Alan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind.) Isa 2:21; Isa 26:10.
[17] “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rank and wealth will not deliver anyone.
The people here are impenitent . They would rather hide than run to Him in faith. They are proof that judgment by itself does not change the human heart. They will not only seek to hide from God, but will blaspheme Him as well (Rev 16:9, 11, 21).
Later, they will take up arms against the Lord at Armageddon.
| Revelation 6 | Matthew 24 | |
| White horse rider (Rev 6:1-2) | False Christs (Mat 24:4-5) | |
| Red horse - war (Rev 6:3-4) | Wars (Mat 24:6) | |
| Black horse - famine (Rev 6:5-6) | Famines (Mat 24:7a) | |
| Pale horse - death (Rev 6:7-8) | Death (Mat 24:7b-8) | |
| Martyrs (Rev 6:9-11) | Martyrs (Mat 24:9) | |
| Worldwide chaos (Rev 6:12-17) | Worldwide chaos (Mat 6:10-13, 29ff) |
Isa 23:9: The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, [and] to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
We should be inspired with the urgency of our witness to the world: Do you want our friends, our neighbors, to go through the terrible scenes here described? Are you withholding the truth from those whose eternity can yet be altered? (Jhn 3:36)
Matthew 24:14 introduces the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout the world, and this brings us to Revelation 7. God will “seal” 144,000 Jews to share His Word with the world. The world will then witness the greatest revival ever yet seen.