Revelation 6: Familiar Imagery, Fresh Meaning

Now, two thousand years later, scholars have much to say on the meaning of this sixth seal.

Revelation 6: The Sixth Seal

So far, everything John saw concerned a single planet. The four horsemen traversed the globe, and the martyrs called out for Godโ€™s judgment of those living on earth. But now the entire cosmos seems to be coming unglued, and the imagery, as fantastic as it is, was vividly familiar to Johnโ€™s audience.

Revelation 6: The Fifth Seal

The martyrs were invited to refresh themselves during this intermission between their deaths and the coming of the end of time, when all will be judged and justice will be brought forth.

Revelation 6: The Fourth Seal

Before Johnโ€™s surely horrified eyes, a ghastly figure appeared as the fourth living creature called forth the specter of Death. The horse was pallid with the sickly hue of plague, and the ominous dark shadows of Hades settled around Deathโ€™s form, resting above its steed.

Revelation 6: The Third Seal

What John saw he beheld with dread. The world of antiquity was no stranger to famine. In fact, not long after the Gospel had broken through the barrier of race and religion, the subject of a severe famine comes up in the Book of Acts.

Revelation 6: The Second Seal

Reading about the second seal gives more context to the first seal, the first horse, and the first rider. If they are part of a set, then how does the first rider fit in?

Revelation 6: The First Seal

The Lamb was now moving the scroll into position and opening the first of its seven seals.