The Revelation of St. John the Divine
Revelation 6
Chapter VI · Vol. IV, pp. 523–524
1 The opening of the seals in order, and what followed thereupon, containing a prophecy to the end of the world.
1 And I saw when the Lamb aopened one of the seals; and I heard, as it were bthe noise of thunder, cone of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold da white horse:1 ande he that sat on him had a bow;2 and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.3
d ch.19.11. Zec.1.8,10;6.2,3. Ro.1.16.
1 The horse is the prophetic emblem of war, Pr.21.31. Je.6.23.—White, of divine service (2 Ch.5.12), of being purified (Is.1.18. Da.12.10), of joy (Ec.9.8), of angelic excellence (Mat.28.3), and of heavenly glory, Re.3.5.—C.
e Ps.45.3-5;110.2,3. He.2.9. Zec.6.11. ch.14.14. Ro.15.19. 2 Co.2.14;10.4,5. Ac.i.-xix. 1 Co.15.25.
2 A bow. The power of unexpected judgments, Ps.7.12.—C.
3 Literally, 'conquering, and that he should conquer'—a description applicable to Christ alone, comp. ch.19.11-16. See Ps.45.3; consequently this seal does not cease at the opening of the second, but continues till 'all enemies shall be put under his feet,' and 'death shall be swallowed up in victory.'—C.
3 Andg when he had opened the second seal, I heard the hsecond beast say, Come and see.
g ch.5.5,9.
h ch.4.6,7. 2 Co.6.4,5. 1 Co.4.9-13.
4 And there went out ianother 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.
i Zec.1.8;6.2. ch.12.3,4. Mat.10.17,18,34,35;24.9. Jn.16.2,33. 2 Ti.3.11,12.
5 And when jhe had opened the third seal, I heard the kthird beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and, lo, a lblack horse; and he that sat on him had a pair4 of balances in his hand.
A.M. cir. 4100. A.D. cir. 96.
j ch.5.5,9.
k ch.4.6,7. Mat.10.16,17. Ep.5.15-17. 1 Co.14.20.
l Zec.6.2,6. Ge.14.1,2. La.4.7,8. Am.8.7,8. 1 Sa.3.1. 1 Co.11.19. 2 Pe.2.7.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure5 of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and nsee thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of othe fourth beast say, Come and see.
o ch.4.6,7;12.14.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale6 horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell7 followed with him. And power was given unto them8 over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.9
6 Or green, Mar.6.39, with Zec.6.3. ch.20.6,14.
7 The Greek word here translated 'hell' is Hades. Its primitive meaning is simply 'the unseen.' Among classic authors it is employed to signify Pluto, the mythological deity of the lower world; also the lower world itself; also death and the grave. It is used 65 times in the New Testament. In 31 it is translated 'grave;' in 31 'hell;' and in 3 'pit.' Yet it never signifies either hell or the grave. It means the state of the dead in general, without any restriction of happiness or misery, or any regard to place. It is the intermediate state between death and the resurrection of the body. Hades is here personified; the sense being that immediately after death the soul remains in a state of separation from the body.—P.
8 Or, to him.
9 All manner of calamities, temporal and spiritual, Je.15.2;16.4,16. Eze.5.15-17;14.21. Le.26.22,26. La.5.10. Eze.4.16.
9 And when phe had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the qaltar the souls of them rthat were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
p ch.5.5,9.
q He.9.12,14;13.10. ch.8.3;9.13;14.18, with Le.4.7.
r ch.1.9;12.11,17;19.10;20.4. Jn.16.2.
10 And sthey cried with a loud voice, saying, tHow long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
t Ps.9.12. 2 Pe.2.1,3. ch.16.5,6;19.2;11.18. Lu.18.8,9. De.32.36-43. ver.12-17. Zec.1.12. Job 24.12.
11 And uwhite robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until vtheir fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, xthere was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
x Is.13.9,10,13;34.4;29.6,7;24.23. Je.4.23,24. Eze.32.7,8. Joel 2.2,10,30,31;3.15. Hag.2.6,7,21,23. Mat.24.29. ch.11.13;16.18. Ac.2.20.
13 And the ystars of heaven1 fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs,2 when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
y ch.8.10.
1 The sun—moon—stars—the heavens—are the prophetic emblems of the different orders of rulers, whether supreme or subordinate, Is.13.10.—C.
2 Or, green figs.
14 And zthe heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; aand every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
A.M. cir. 4100. A.D. cir. 96.
a Je.51.25;3.25;4.23,24. Hab.3.6,10. Is.2.14,17. ch.16.20. Ho.4.13.
15 Andb the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Notes
Ver. 1. These opened seals represent the fate of the Roman empire, but chiefly of the Christian church; and as they relate to events rather than periods, we must not imagine that what was signified by one was altogether finished when that which was signified by the next following began. While the white horse and his rider, ver. 2, may have some respect to the Roman victories gained by Vespasian, about A.D. 70, and Trajan, A.D. 110, under the providential direction of Christ, they chiefly represent Christ, as by the gospel, and the influences of the Holy Ghost attending it, conquering the nations to the obedience of faith, A.D. 33-66 and afterwards.—The red horse and his sword-bearing rider, ver. 4, represent the persecutions of the Christian church by the emperors Nero, Domitian, Trajan, and Adrian, between A.D. 66 and 138; and the terrible bloodshed in the Roman empire in the Jewish, Parthian, and other wars.—The black horse and his rider with a pair of balances, ver. 5, 6, may represent the church as corrupted with manifold errors, through which, and the more apparently legal persecutions of Aurelius about A.D. 160, and Severus about 202, was occasioned no small scarcity of pure gospel ordinances. To punish which, the Lord plagued the Roman empire with terrible famines during the reigns of the two Antonines and Severus, about A.D. 140, 162, 200.—The pale horse with death and hell for his riders, represent the church as awfully corrupted with error and apostasy, and her members dreadfully murdered in the persecutions by Maximin, 235, Valerian, 256, Aurelian, 272, and especially by Decius, 250, and the just punishment thereof on the Roman empire in the terrible tyranny of their emperors between 235 and 284, and their frequent murdering one of another; the desolating ravages of the Allemans, Goths, Quadians, Parthians, and others; and a terrible pestilence, of fifteen years' continuance, which almost half-desolated the whole Roman empire, about 252. And so accustomed were dogs and other ravenous animals to live on the unburied carcasses, that they sometimes fell upon and destroyed the living. The fifth seal, ver. 9-11, represents the souls of such as had been slain for their adherence to Christ's cause in the preceding persecutions, as enjoying rest and happiness through and with him in heaven, and as crying for vengeance on the heathen persecuting empire, but required to wait till their fellow-Christians should be also murdered in the terrible Dioclesian persecution, A.D. 302-312. The sixth seal, ver. 12-17, represents the dreadful consternation, confusion, and fearful ruin of the heathen emperors and their armies, and of the idolatrous priests, with their idolatries and superstitions, when Constantine the Great successfully warred against them, commenced a Christian himself, abolished heathenism, and established the Christian religion in its stead. [See Introduction, ch. iv. sect. xviii. xix.
Ver. 4. Red, being the colour of the dragon, ch. 12. 3, is an emblem of satanic disposition and bloodshed. See Jn. 8. 44. As there is no note of time between the going forth of the first rider and of the second, is it not natural to conclude that the visions are not of consecutive, but of contemporaneous events? And is not the second rider the persecuting Roman empire, which became so soon 'red' with the blood of the saints, which, transformed into the Papacy, hounded the crusaders against the unoffending Waldenses, established the unhallowed Inquisition, persecuted to the death so many of the blessed Protestant Reformers, and, though providentially restrained, still continues to cherish the same spirit of relentless intolerance. See Dens' Theology, and M'Ghee's Laws of the Papacy. C.
Ver. 5. Black is the prophetic emblem of national calamity (Je. 14. 2), despair (Joel 2. 6), and the final ruin of impenitent sinners, Jude 13. C.
Ver. 8. Pale. A sickly hue, verging either to green or yellow, the prophetic emblem of fear, Je. 30. 5, 6.—Death. The mark of a church 'carnally-minded,' which 'is death,' Ro. 8. 6.—Beasts. False teachers, 'grievous wolves,' Ac. 20. 29. C.
Ver. 11. Inasmuch as the number of martyrs for Christ's cause has not yet been 'fulfilled,' it follows that the 'rest' conceded cannot have closed with any period already past, but will continue until the final destruction of the antichristian power. C.
Ver. 12. An 'earthquake' is the prophetic emblem of an extraordinary and unexpected shaking and overturning of an empire, Is. 13. 13, and which, according to the circumstances, may affect either the ecclesiastical or civil rulers. C.
Ver. 14. Mountains, when conjoined with the enemies of Christ, are the prophetic emblems of heathen, infidel, and apostatical obstructions to the progress of the gospel, Is. 40. 4; 49. 11.—Every island is, most probably, in this prophecy, the emblem of every place of penal banishment employed by despotic and antichristian powers. C.
Reflections.—Orderly arranged are all the events of Providence; and gospel ministers ought carefully to observe them, and call their hearers to do the same. Glorious are the spread and conquests of the gospel when Christ rides forth on it with his gracious influence. Great are the trials of faith and patience, even unto death, which his people are sometimes called to suffer for their faithful attachment to his truths and interests. But it is enough if he support and encourage them under their troubles, and at last, through his righteousness, render them partakers of the purity, peace, and honour of the heavenly state.—While his church languishes in her spiritual, or even external condition, persecuted, and bereaved of pure gospel ordinances, and of eminent ministers and Christians, by terrible wars, famines, pestilences, and a miserable dissolution of their long-established civil constitutions, he punishes her persecutors. No place, no difference of rank, can screen from his just wrath.—How dreadful, then, must be the last judgment and the damnation of hell!