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The Seven Seals of Revelation--Commentary on Revelation Six
The Seven Seals & Prophecy Chapter 14
Introduction The seven Seals are divided into three segments consisting of the first four, then two and finally the last. This is how the Trumpets (chapters 8每9) and the Bowls (chapter 16) are also presented.
Heavenly Division Interlude ∣ ∣ ∣
The first group introduces the major players in the final battle between good and evil 每 Jesus and His people 每 Satan and his. The second set addresses specific end-time issues and events. The third division or seventh Seal relates to events surrounding the coming of Jesus. This 4每2每1 setting covers the final period of earth＊s history 每 the ※appointed time§ of Daniel 8:19. Though a preterist and historical application can be made for these Seals, they are incomplete and serve only as a general pattern to the greater eschatological application. In dramatic symbolism the finale of God＊s work here on earth is described. We can see God finalizing who will comprise His kingdom through His remnant people and His church, in the first Seal. They go out to conquer for Him. The final hours of the wicked are also portrayed. The Seals develop an important framework for the rest of the book. Who are those major players?
1. God＊s purified people 每 the Philadelphia church 2. The martyrs 每 the Smyrna church 3. The papacy 每 the Thyatira church, with the remaining four representing apostate rotestantism 4. The great multitude who will be called out of Babylon 每 Seal number three
※There is language within the Seals which indicates that the Seals do progress in a chronological order with respect to themselves. First of all, they are designated by number 每 i.e., they are referred to as the ＆first＊ Seal, the ＆second＊ Seal, etc. This stands in contrast to the Seven Churches, for example, where no specific designated order was specified or implied. There is also language within the content of the Seals which implies specific timing. The events of the Seals occur ＆when＊ the Seal is broken, and not before. Finally, we see within the Seals, a specific escalation of events toward the end. The sixth Seal describes the Second Coming of Jesus, which obviously occurs after the events of the preceding Seals. ※The events are specifically directed from Heaven, but they take place on Earth. These events are orchestrated by God. A cherubim in Heaven sends out each of the horsemen. They are not under the direction of Satan, but of God. They describe circumstances that God creates. Each person will react to these circumstances according to their own free will. But we must keep in mind that these are events that are decreed by God and occur when the Lamb breaks each Seal. The events are decreed in Heaven, but occur on the earth.§1 God Remains in Sovereign Control ※One of the things that we very quickly notice about the Seven Seals is that each one has a very short description. The first four Seals are particularly brief 每 each consisting of only two or three verses. Many expositors have capitalized on this brevity to expound some very fantastic explanations. There is very little detail within the texts themselves to counter their imaginative claims. That is why it is so important to have a good understanding of the Introductory Sanctuary Scenes [chapters 4 and 5]. These scenes provide the chronological and conceptual background for the Seven Seals. They comprise the foundation upon which we can build a solid interpretation of the Seals themselves. They provide the detail that is missing from the descriptions of the Seals. Any interpretation of the Seal events that is inconsistent with the background provided by the Introductory Sanctuary Scenes should be rejected.§2 There is a chiastic tie between Revelation 4每7 and 19. One is preparation for the end, the other completion. One involves a crown of victory, the other the crown of a king. ※In both scenes there is a picture of heaven opened (4:1; 19:11); God is seated on His throne (4:2, 9; 5:13; 19:4, 6); salvation, glory, honor, and power are ascribed to the Lord (5:1; 7:10, 12; 19:1); there is a noise of thunder (6:1; 19:60); God is Judge and avenger of the blood of His servants (6:10; 19:2); the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fall down in worship (4:10; 5:8, 14; 19:4); a great multitude arrayed in white stands before the throne (7:9, 13, 14; 19:6-8); a white horse goes forth in battle (6:2; 19:11); crowns are on the heads of the riders of the horses of white (6:2; 19:12); and there is a sharp sword for the smiting of the nations and the taking of peace from the earth (6:4; 19:15). ※If Rev. 4每7 pictures God as both Judge and warrior, Rev. 19:11 specifically mentions the fact that ＆He doth judge and make war.＊ In Rev. 6:10 the question is raised, ＆How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?,§ whereas in ch. 19:2 ＆He hath judged＊ and ＆avenged the blood of His servants.§3 Here begins fulfillment of the great passion of God＊s people to have the end come. Here unfolds that reality 每 all in a short period of literal time. Interpretation Viewpoint There are two major ways that the Seals are viewed. One is through the eyes of literalism. The other views the messages and imagery as depicting significant incidents to guide God＊s people through the final period of earth＊s history. Here are a few thoughts that imply a more literal understanding of the Seals: ※It should be noted that although the form of John＊s vision is related to Zechariah [6:1-15], the subject matter corresponds to the eschatological discourse of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Luke records wars and tumults, nation rising against nation, great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, great signs from heaven, and persecution (Luke 21:9ff.; cf. Mark 13:7ff. and Matt 24:6ff). By combining earthquakes and the cosmic disturbances, the seven woes of Luke are included within the six seals of Revelation. In Jewish thought the ＆age to come＊ would be preceded by a period of unprecedented woe. ＆These are the beginning of birth pains.＊§4 Scholars draw such parallels from the Seals to Christ＊s end-time messages to His disciples as noted in this outline:
Mark 13 Revelation 6
1. Wars v. 7; Matt. 24:6 War v. 2 2. International strife v. 8; Matt. 24:7 Strife v. 4 3. Earthquakes v. 8; Matt. 24:7 Famine v. 5, 6 4. Famines v. 8; Matt. 24:7 Pestilence v. 8 5. Persecution v. 9, 11; Matt. 14:9 Persecutions v. 9, 10 6. Preaching of Gospel v. 10, 13; Matt. 24:14 Waiting v. 11 7. Eclipses, falling stars v. 24; Matt. 24:29 Eclipses, v. 12 Luke 8. Fear for the coming Christ v. 26; Matt. 24:30 Fear for the wrath v. 1, 5-17 of the Lamb
※This comparison shows that we must consider the successive seals in Rev. 6 as Christ＊s further unfolding of His earlier speech in which He had outlined what would happen to them during their mission in the world. This means that the seals forecast not only the end-time judgments but also the Messianic judgments during the entire church age. In Matt. 24 Jesus adopted Daniel＊s apocalyptic style of repetition and enlargement. Twice Jesus started His outline with His own generation and then went quickly forward in history until the end of the church era: see Matt. 24:1-14 and 24:15-31.§5 ※Ezek. 14:12-23 is also formative for this section (cf. Deut. 32:23-25).... [These] punishments come on nations in general when they are unfaithful to God. The trials there are listed respectively as lack of bread and ＆famine＊ ( ※The same dual purpose is likely in mind in Revelation 6, except now the church community is the focus of the judgments. The faithful will be purified, but those who compromise through idolatry and become disloyal to Christ will be judged by the same tribulations. ※The Ezekiel passage itself is further developing the idea of four judgments from Lev. 26:18-28, which may also be secondarily in John＊s mind. The Leviticus test also concerns woes that God will send on the Israelites if they commit idolatry.... ※The promise interwoven in these warnings is that if Israel does repent of idolatry (cf. 26:1, 30-31), God will bless Israel again (cf. likewise Deut. 32:24-25). Thus, these are warning judgments inducing repentance and so renewing faith and only permanently punishing apostate Israelites. ※If this background is in mind in Rev. 6:1-8, then the afflictions cited there not only purge and punish but also serve as warnings for people to repent.... ※Therefore, these segments from Zechariah, Ezekiel, and Leviticus provide the composition paradigm for Rev. 6:1-8.§6 This commentary will emphasize, not this literal approach which creates voids in understanding as will be noted, but will unfold special end-time sequential messages revealed within each Seal. The spiritual purpose behind them appears to be the greater objective for this prophecy. God is beginning to unfold specific issues so His people will understand the last steps of their final challenges immediately preceding the eschaton. This book will build on that understanding. Though some literal imagery is described, the spiritual battle is the overriding theme. It is a tribulation preparation message and parallels other events in Revelation. Numerical Thought In the fourth horse it notes that he was given power over a fourth part of the earth (6:8). As will be discovered, these horses represent people who claim to belong to God. The ※one fourth§ symbolism relates to God＊s people and to His kingdom. Intriguingly, the Trumpets relate to thirds. In Revelation The Scroll the Seals Protect ※Before analyzing the amazing figures in these seals, we should recognize that a ＆seal＊ (from the Greek word ＆sphragis＊) which bound the scroll document, was used not only to keep it secret, but the ＆seals＊ also suggest that God had already certified the contents as authentic and genuine. However, ＆no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon＊ (Rev. 5:3). A sense of how serious it was to have the book opened can be gained by considering, not only why John ＆wept much＊ (Rev. 5:4) at the prospect of an unopened book, but by the fact that it required the Lamb to have shed His own blood in order to be worthy enough to open it. ※Therefore, its prewritten contents are of enormous significance, not only for the human race, or even the celestial onlookers who ＆were filled with awe＊ as it was unrolled (see 12MR 297), but for God Himself, whose character must be vindicated before His creatures in order to preserve the freedom and harmony of the universe throughout eternity.§8 Timing of the Seals The first Seal depicts a group of people who are pure, white and ready for the kingdom. They went out conquering and to conquer. The imagery portrays God＊s messengers going out under the leadership of Christ to finish the work (11:3-6; cf. In a brief commentary of the sealed book, E. G. White notes: ※There in His open hand lay the book, the roll of the history of God＊s providences, the prophetic history of nations and the church. Herein was contained the divine utterances, His authority, His commandments, His laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers in the nations. In symbolic language was contained in that roll the influence of every nation, tongue, and people from the beginning of earth's history to its close.... ※＆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: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, Holy and true, doest Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them [They were pronounced pure and holy]; 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＊ [Rev. 6:9-11]. Here were scenes presented to John that were not in reality but that which would be in a period of time in the future. [Rev. 8:1-4, quoted.]§9 ※Thy right hand, O God, shall dash in pieces Thine enemies.§ Revelation 6 and 7 are full of meaning. ※When the Lamb takes the scroll from the hand of God in the heavenly sanctuary and breaks the first seal, we have the beginning of the final phase of the conflict between Christ and Satan. Christ＊s kingdom will be established ... and ＆the gates of hell will not prevail against it＊ (Matthew As noted in the Summary of Revelation 4 and 5, this scene is not of the time when the judgment begins. It is at the time of the judgment when the cases of the living come up before God. Later, warnings that major retributive judgments will soon come, then with executive judgments be presented under the Trumpets. ※In these passages the events of the last days fall into three periods: (1) the period of false Christs, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and death, called ＆the beginning of birth pains＊ (Matt 24:8); (2) the period of the Great Tribulation (Matt 24:21; NIV, ＆great distress＊) and, (3) finally, the period ＆immediately after the distress of those days,＊ when the sun, moon, and stars will be affected and Christ will return (Matt 24:29-30). This parallel to the unfolding of Revelation is too striking to be ignored.§11 Through the sealed document God has proleptically judged the world. The world＊s destiny is in the Lamb＊s hands before it is unrolled. The opening of the Seals begins that process. When the scroll is finally opened, the judgment and character of God will be open to all, and when reviewed, will vindicated His conclusions. The historical ※literal§ model gives us an incomplete illustration of the judgment and associated conflict. The eschatological rendering fills in exquisite details and ties more fully with the numerous end-time templates in this remarkable book. Prototypical: White horse Apostolic establishment of early Christian church Red horse Persecution Black horse Apostate church Pale horse Dark ages 每 persecution and death Martyrs Long age of martyrs Earth and celestial signs 16th and 17th century signs Coming of Jesus Consummation Typical: White horse 144,000, remnant, pure, loud cry Red horse Persecution 每 Apostate Protestantism Black horse Apostate Babylon 每 those awaiting the call to come out Pale horse Death decrees 每 plans to annihilate Remnant 每 Roman Catholicism Martyrs Martyrs 每 Little Time of Trouble Earth and celestial signs Probation closed Coming of Jesus Jesus comes With the opening of the Seals, dramatic shifts in the imagery of God occur. From chapters 6-19 we find violence, devastation, wrath and calamities. Associated with this is a vast contrast between the loving Jesus in the Gospels and the Lamb with horns that heaven calls a Lion? ※The traditional imagery of apocalyptic terror is adopted and used by John, but like everything else in his revelation it is transformed within his Christological perspective. The imagery of the lion is still used, but the Messiah is the slain Lamb. ※Every event of apocalyptic violence in chapters 6每19 must be seen as derived from the scene of chapters 4每5. This means that all of [chapters] 6每19 transpires from the hand of the Lamb ... ＆all is situated in the cross of Jesus Christ ... these texts must not be read in themselves but only in relation to that love which sacrifices itself for those who hate it＊ (Ellul, p. 123). The Lamb is the bloody garments ( In a summation sweep of this ※catastrophic imagery,§ we suddenly note that the ※wrath of God§ is not revenge but justice. There we find a remarkable expression of love in the Seals and Trumpets, for God mercifully warns dramatically, before opportunity ceases, that time is soon to end. Though John was told the Lion of the Tribe of Judah would open the book and loosen the scroll (5:5-7), the Lamb was personified in the task of breaking the Seals. Thus the Seals are seen still in the time of great mercy and advocacy. References: [1] Canter, Bryan; Revelation 每 A Study of the Eschatological Application of Prophecy 每 Part 3, ※The Seven Seals§ (Prophecy Research Initiative document 每 2002), p. 51. 2 Ibid., pp. 37-38. 3 Thiele, Edwin R.; Outline Studies in Revelation ( 4 Mounce, Robert H.; The Book of Revelation, Revised (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI / Cambridge, UK), 1998, p. 140. 5 LaRondelle, Hans Th.D.; How to Understand the End-Time Prophecies of the Bible, (First 6 Beale, G. K.; The New International Greek Testament Commentary; The Book of Revelation (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1999), p. 373. 7 Paulein, Jon; Seven Churches and Heavenly Vision, Tape 12, ※Seven Seals and the Experience of the Church,§ The Ambassador Group, 1996 每 The Bible Explorer Series. 8 Wood, Robert, M.D.; Revelation 6 (Prophecy Research Initiative document 每 2002), 9 White, Ellen G.; Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, p. 197 (emphasis added). 10 Shumate, Gordon; ※Heaven and the Seven Seals,§ Revelation Chapters 4-8:5 (Prophecy Research Initiative document 每 2002). 11 Gaebelein, Frank E.; The Expositor＊s Bible Commentary, vol. 12 (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI), 1984, p. 472. 12 Boring, M. Eugene; Interpretation 每 A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky), 1989, pp. 112, 118.
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