UNDERSTANDING
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Part
Three
The
First Six Seals
By
Gary Ray Branscome
The vision of the seven seals begins with the words, “After
this I looked, and saw a door opened in heaven: and the voice I had first heard
speaking to me like a trumpet; said, Come up here, and I will show you what
must take place after this,” (Rev. 4:1). As you read these words I want to call
your attention to two things; 1) The voice that John hears is the same voice
that he heard in chapter one, verse ten, and 2) These words were spoken to him
alone. This is important because there is absolutely no justification for the
claim that this voice is calling believers from the grave, or that the rapture
will take place at this time. Do not take my word for it, read the verse. These
words are words that John heard in a dream/vision almost two thousand years
ago, not some voice in the future. Like the false prophets of old, those who teach
otherwise ignore the words of God while teaching for doctrine the imagination
of their own heart (Jeremiah
After going through that door (in his dream/vision),
the things that John describes tell us that he is seeing a symbolic vision
of heaven, not the actual place. For example: The seven lamps symbolize the “seven
Spirits of God” (Rev. 4:5). Christ is portrayed as a lamb “having seven horns
and seven eyes” (Rev. 5:6). And, the golden vials full of incense symbolize the
“prayers of saints” (Rev. 5:8).
Now, I believe that everything John sees, from the
beginning of chapter four to the end of chapter eleven, should be grouped
together. And, this is why. It is in John’s vision of heaven that he sees the
seven seals being opened. What is described in chapter seven is seen as the
seals are being opened, and the seven trumpets of chapters eight through eleven
come out of the seventh seal. Those facts tie chapters four through eleven
together.
So
let us look at some of the things John actually sees:
There is an ancient tradition that identifies the
four “living creatures” that John saw around the throne, – which resemble, in
turn, a “lion”, a “calf”, a “man”, and an “eagle” – with the writers of the four
Gospels. For that reason, it is not uncommon in more traditional churches to
see icons portraying these creatures. However, even though that interpretation is
old, I see no support for it in the text.
The crowns that the twenty-four elders cast before the
throne are not something they have earned by their works (Rev. 4:10). On the
contrary, all of our own righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God
(Isaiah 64:6). The crowns which they cast down are the crowns that are given to
every believer by grace alone by virtue of the fact that all who trust in
Christ have been made “kings and priests” (Rev. 1:6 and
Chapter five begins with a scroll that is sealed with
seven seals. And, here John is sorrowful because no one was worthy to open it –
that is until Christ (who is described as the lion of
When the first
seal was opened, John “saw a white horse: and its rider had a bow; and a crown
was given to him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2). As
the next three seals are opened, he sees, in turn, a red horse and rider, a
black horse and rider, and a pale horse and rider. Tradition interprets these
horses as; 1) Christ, 2) war, 3) famine, 4) pestilence. There are others who
point out that the rider of the first horse could not be Christ, because Christ
is the one who is opening the seals. However, they then go to the opposite
extreme by assuming that the rider of the first horse is the antichrist. I believe
that both of those views are wrong. It would be inconsistent for the rider of
the first horse to be a man, if the riders of the last three horses only
represent abstract things such as war, famine, and pestilence. For that reason,
I would like to suggest an alternative view.
In order to understand where I am coming from, I want
to point out a parallel between the red horse and white horse of chapter six,
and the red dragon and woman clothed in the sun (the light being white) of
chapter twelve (Rev. 6:2-4 and 12:1-5). Now, I explained previously how the
Bible identifies this woman, but let me go over it again. Revelation
Now, I mentioned previously that the seven seals
represent something that would never have happened if Christ had not triumphed
through His death on the cross, and been found worthy (Rev. 5:9). Therefore, we
need to ask: What things would never have happened if Christ had not defeated
death and been found worthy? And, one obvious answer is that the Spirit would
never have been poured out on the day of Pentecost. So what happened as a
result of Pentecost? Christ’s church went forth “conquering, and to conquer”
(Rev. 6:2). Before going further, let me point out that even though we should
never use force of arms to advance the Gospel, the New Testament often uses the
language of war. In 2Corinthians 10:4 we read, “The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but mighty through God”. In Ephesians Paul talks about putting on
the armor of God. And, when we look at actual history the church did conquer
After the day of Pentecost the church immediately
encountered persecution. So identifying the red horse with persecution also
fits the facts. And, if we identify the red horse with persecution, we can
identify the great sword that is given to its rider (Rev. 6:4) as the sword of
political power mentioned in Romans 13:4.
That brings us to the other two horses. Traditionally
the black horse has been associated with famine. However, Amos speaks of a
famine that is “not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of the LORD,” and that suggests apostasy (Amos
When the fifth seal was opened John saw the “souls” of
those who “were slain for the word of God, and for their testimony” (Rev. 6:9).
That supports our identification of the red horse with persecution. Then, as
the sixth seal is opened, John sees the stars fall from heaven (Rev. 6:13), the
sky itself depart like a scroll (Rev. 6:14), and we are told that the great day
of God’s wrath has come (Rev. 6:17).
Now, the fact that the events described in connection
with the sixth seal are the events of the end and we are specifically told that
the great day of God’s wrath has come, tell us that the seven seals do not
represent different periods of history. The things described in connection with
the first five seals are things that have been going on since the day of
Pentecost, and are going on today. And, the fact that chapter
Conclusion
Three important things to remember are:
1) John heard the voice mentioned in chapter four, verse one, almost two
thousand years ago, in a vision. 2) There is nothing in the text to justify the
claim that John heard that voice in the future, or that the “rapture” takes
place when he hears it, and 3) John went through the door into heaven in his
dream/vision, while he physically remained on the isle of Patmos.
In the next
section we will look at chapter seven, the seventh seal, and the seven
trumpets.