As one by one the Lamb opens the Seals of the Seven-Sealed Book we see four symbolic horsemen; then two visions (under the 5th and 6th seals, respectively)--the one calling for vengeance upon the dwellers on the earth; the other a vision in which we see the Day of the Lord breaking in upon the world. These six seals set in a general way the great cleaning-up process of God's judgments, culminating in the great day of Wrath. Then the Seventh Seal reveals under the seven trumpets, and under the symbolism of the seven bowls of wrath (which follow and complete the work of the seven trumpets) the step-by-step progress of God's preparatory judgments. The seventh Seal reveals the Seven Trumpets; and the sounding of the seventh Trumpet involves the Seven Bowls of wrath, "which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished" [21]

      These series of judgments constitute the backbone of the book of Revelation and, with some supplementary visions, form the bulk and body of it. It is well, therefore, to take a wide outlook upon the meaning and purpose of these staggering calamities.

      First of all, these judgments are not only just, but they do not come till due and overdue. Our attention is called to the fact that men have filled up their cup of iniquity to overflowing. (Compare Genesis 15:16.) So long has God waited and kept silence, bearing and forbearing, that many have come to think Him slack (2 Peter 3:9) and others assure themselves that God would never do anything, one way or the other (Zephaniah 1:12). Not till the grain is ripe (Greek, become dry Revelation 14:15) does He rise up to the harvest; and the grapes are dead ripe before they are gathered into the winepress of the wrath of God. (Revelation 14:18-20.) Patience and grace have had their full day: now dawns the Day of Vengeance, blood-red and all the more terrible for the long delay. Upon that generation will fall the full measure of judgment; for they are heirs of all the light and lessons of the past, heirs also to the accumulated accounts of generations gone by. (Compare Matthew 23:35, 36.) As these lines are being written already the clouds--such clouds as have not been previously--are gathering thick upon the horizon. The evening air is sultry and surcharged with heavy forebodings of a coming storm. When the tempest breaks it will break suddenly.¹

      Secondly, the judgments are for a stated purpose--"to destroy those who destroy the earth." That purpose will be fully accomplished. God will finish His work, His strange work, and cut it short in righteousness.

      "Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart" (Jeremiah 23:19,20).

      Once begun, the searching vengeance will not cease until the forces of evil are subdued, and man, who is of the earth, shall be terrible no more, and Jehovah alone is exalted in the earth. When we reach the twentieth chapter God has set righteousness in the earth. The settlement is thoroughgoing and terrible; but beyond the smoke and din of it shines a fairer sun, and the whole earth breaks forth into singing.

      Lastly, the judgments are mingled with mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2.) They do not come in one fell swoop, but step-wise and progressively till a climax is reached. There are lulls in the storm in which men may have time to collect themselves and think. There are even voices calling men to belated repentance, for that "the hour of His judgment has come," and regretful mention of the fact that "they did not repent." What can be salvaged will be salvaged. In fact, many will avail themselves, and amid terrific sufferings and persecutions will wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb--of Israel a great company, and of the nations an innumerable multitude. "For when the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9.) The rest, by the very mercy of the judgments, are hardened, as in the plagues of Egypt.

      The lamb begins to open the seals. The first four seals are distinguished from the rest, as we shall see; the next two follow in succession; and the last, the seventh, after an intervening vision. (6:1-8:2.)

      "Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "COME!"²

      At this summons there came out a white horse. He that sits upon it has a bow; a conqueror's crown is given him, and he comes conquering and to conquer.

      At the opening of the second seal, and at the challenge of the second Living Creature, came a fiery red horse. Its rider is empowered to take peace from the earth, "that men would slay one another, and a great sword was given to him."

      The third Seal is opened, the third Living Creature cries, "Come!" and a third, a black horse, appears, whose rider holds balances in his hand. From amidst the four Living Creatures a voice announces famine-prices of the staples of life.

      When the Lamb breaks the fourth seal, the fourth Living Creature cries "Come!" and behold a pale horse of ghastly greenish hue (Greek, "chloros," green). He that sits upon it is Death; and Hades (which "swallows up what Death destroys") follows with him. To these two authority is given (limited to the fourth part of the earth) "to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth"--which are God's "four severe judgments." (Ezekiel 14:21.)

      What, then, are these strange horses and horsemen? What is meant by their going out into the earth? In the prophecy of Zechariah we find the same kind of symbol used, and there they are seen to be Jehovah's [22] messengers going out on missions of Judgment (Zechariah 1:8-11; 6:1-8). They are called "the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world." (Zechariah 6:5. Compare Daniel 7:2; Revelation 7:1.) They have no other meaning here. At the signal given in heaven these four go out on the earth to execute the righteous decrees of God.

      The first, the white horse and its rider, has occasioned some dispute. Some (influenced by Revelation 19:11-14) are quite certain that this is Christ Himself; others say that here we see the Antichrist. Another surmises that this is the Roman general Titus going out to destroy Jerusalem (though by general consensus of scholarship Revelation was written twenty-five years after the fall of Jerusalem, and this was a thing yet future to John, Revelation 4:1). Some can make it fit beautifully to the history of Rome which had five good emperors soon after John's time, during which time the church grew and prospered. Others think that the triumphant progress of the white horse represents the success and spread of the gospel. Upon the respective merits of these views we have no time to enter; nor do we feel obligated to make this fit to anything whatever, but rather to get the force and meaning of what John here tells us.

      It is not the Christ that rides the white horse. It would seem somewhat incongruous that He should open the seal and be represented as Himself proceeding from it, seated on a white horse. Or could we say that He is to be lined up in the same category with the other three, frightful and hideous figures of judgment, as one of them and parallel with their sort? And why should the first rider be an actual person, while the other three are but personifications, symbolic representations of the spirits of judgment sent forth from God?

      Nor have we here a picture of the gospel's victorious progress. When John wrote, the gospel had long since gone forth and overspread the known world (Colossians 1:23); but this, as we are distinctly told at the outset (4:1), belongs to the future things.

      Yet this horse is white, which in the Bible, is always a symbol of purity and righteousness. His bow betokens far-reaching conquest, and the crown ("stephanos," the conqueror's crown) signifies victory. In keeping with the obvious meaning of the other three horsemen, this one, then, is to be regarded as a potent force for righteousness as the color signifies, which breaks in upon the earth; and, in consequence, many far and near are humbling themselves before God. (Compare Isaiah 26:9; Daniel 12:10.)

      The other three horses are also spirits ("winds") and forces sent forth into the earth--the one stirring up war and vast bloodshed; the other breaking the staff of bread and bringing in famine; the third representing all powers of death and destruction combined, and sweeping the fourth part of the earth with every plague.

      The fifth seal is very different from the first four. Here John sees in the heavenly sanctuary the altar (at the base of which, in the Old Testament type, the blood--which is identified with its life---of the sacrificial victims is poured out, Leviticus 4:7); and under the altar John sees the souls of some who have been martyred "because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained." These cried with a great voice saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" A strange cry, indeed--for had not their Lord prayed, "Father, forgive them" when they nailed Him to the cross? So did Stephen also--"Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" But these cry for vengeance. Yet vengeance is not revenge.

      The sense of justice lies deep in the heart of man and it is also the unchangeable attitude of God. Even the Lord Jesus "entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23), even while He "bore our sins in His body on the cross." Justice finally must intervene, and the whole creation will experience a relief and joy in God's righteous judgments. (Psalms 96:11-13.)

      For judgment do these souls pray. And they are not so much concerned for their own satisfaction as for the honor of God--for judgment time at last has come. (Compare Luke 18:7, 8.) But they must wait a little longer in rest (compare 14:13) until another contingent of martyred ones should be added to their number. "The white robe assigned each of these martyr-spirits is a pledge of future and final glory, and a consoling proof that no judgment awaited them."

      The opening of the sixth seal shakes the whole world. The earth rocks in convulsions; the sun turns black as sackcloth; the moon is red as blood; the stars fall; the heaven is removed as a scroll; and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. Among men reigns the wildest consternation. All those who "dwell on the earth" (a term used seven times in this book, always with a bad significance) are shaken out of their composure. In frantic fear all classes of people, high and low, great and small, now fully convinced that this is the hand of God, flee to the rocks and caverns for refuge (compare Isaiah 2:10, 11, 19-21). Terror-crazed, they entreat the mountains and rocks to fall [23] on them and hide them "from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!" For (say they) "the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

      To some, this sublime scene of terror is merely "highly figurative and symbolic language" without specific or definite meaning, except such as the commentator may see fit to give to it; as when some, for example, refer to "the politico-religious revolution under Constantine at the beginning of the 4th century, when Christianity became the state religion"; others to "the dissolution of the Roman empire"; others to the French Revolution, which was a mere "tempest in a teapot" in comparison with the vast scope of this prophecy. If any one wants to make fit applications of scriptures to any analogous thing, it is well: that is legitimate and helpful, for the word of God is of perpetual significance and application. But application is not interpretation. If the various apt or inapt applications of this book offered us by the historical interpreters constituted the meaning of this book, we would have to give up the study of it in despair. Then we could indeed not tell what a prophecy means before its fulfillment, nor afterward either. Then it would take as much faith to believe in the alleged fulfillment as in the original prophecy. Then, too, would we be at the mercy of the secular historian for the meaning of God's book. Then also would the grandeur of the prediction be lost in the pitiful meagerness and tameness of the fulfillment. Let who will take such views; but we do not so discount the prophecies of this book.

      Others, however, in stricter acceptance of this prophetic vision, are convinced that it marks the end of all things; and to account for what follows after, they regard the other judgments as a reiteration of the judgment of the six seals.

      But this is not the end. We are not to take the expression, "the stars of the sky fell to the earth," or "The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up," in an astronomical sense; but, as always in the Bible and in common human speech also, in a phenomenal sense--describing the appearance as it strikes the eye--just as we say, for example, "the sun rose out of the sea and set behind the hill." This is surely that convulsion of nature, foretold by the Lord Jesus:

      "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:25, 26.)

      But it is not the final wind-up: things move right on and into "the great and awesome day of the Lord" (Joel 2:31).

      Between the sixth and seventh seals stands a vision of two redeemed companies. The one company, taken out of Israel, 12,000 of each tribe, who, before the letting loose of the great trouble, are sealed for preservation. The other company, is an innumerable multitude "from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues." They have come out of THE GREAT TRIBULATION. They stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, clothed in white robes and having palms in their hands. In wonderful words their eternal bliss is described. This vision of the two companies is independent, a parenthetical insertion between the sixth and seventh seals--as though God would reassure us as to the success of His work in the midst of apparent universal failure. The 144,000 sealed ones are simply Israelites:--the day of Israel's turning, as long foretold, has evidently come. (Hosea 14; Romans 11:12, 15, 25, 26.) The vast gathering of redeemed Gentiles, on the other hand, has come out of "the Great Tribulation"--not merely great tribulation (as in Acts 14:22) but out of that great prophetic period of unexampled trouble, of which we shall learn later on.

      The seventh seal is opened--there followed a silence in heaven for the space of half an hour. Nothing transpires under this seal except the preparation of the sounding of the seven Trumpets. "And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them." The seven trumpets issue out of the seventh seal.

      The sixth seal is the vision of the final catastrophe, which occurs just before the Lord's glorious appearing with His saints. The signs in sun and moon and stars which are seen at the opening of the opening of the sixth seal cannot be distinguished from those foretold by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Olivet sermon (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24, 25; Luke 21:25, 26). Christ told us that these signs in sun, moon and stars follow immediately after the Great Tribulation. They precede the "Day of the Lord," Christ's coming in power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-31; Acts 2:20). The seventh seal, however, goes back and opens to view the successive steps (the seven trumpets, afterward followed by the seven bowls) by which this climax is reached. [24]

      The seven seals therefore comprise the whole great judgment-drama of the Apocalypse. They reveal the forces and prevailing conditions during that period of unexampled trouble, but do not portray a definite sequence and order of events.

      The first four seals--the four horsemen--stand in a certain relation to one another and follow each other in order, each being called out in turn by one of the "living creatures." They symbolize the release of four forces, sent out into the world preliminary to the final cataclysm.

      The fifth seal indicates that persecution of God's people is raging throughout the period.

      In the sixth, the convulsions of the earth and the heavens herald the great day of wrath.

      But the seventh tells of the seven trumpets that must first be sounded, and the seven bowls that must first be poured out before the scene of the sixth seal is realized. Careful study will make it clear that the seals are not the first of three co-ordinate and consecutive series of judgments (seals, trumpets, bowls) but that the seals take in the whole sweep of the time of trouble up to the glorious coming of the King (Revelation 19:10); and that the trumpets and bowls mark certain details within that time of trouble.

      The Outlook presented in this book is not at all flattering to man's pride. Where now is man's boasted progress and advancement and all his goodness and greatness? The age must end in judgment because it ends in human failure.

      These seal-judgments are not common afflictions, such as come upon nations in the natural course of things, such as have always occurred from time to time since there were people on the earth. These judgments are marked by their nature and origin and their spiritual significance. They are specifically designed and sent out from God--not merely in a providential way, but by His special interposition, and for a particular end. The opening of the seven-sealed book brings something different from what had been happening all along through human history.

      The Value of Things. By the light of prophecy we learn how to estimate the relative value and importance of things, so that we may not be imposed upon by the pretentious glory of man's great works and achievements. "Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!" And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down" (Mark 13:1, 2). So will it be with every work of man which has not been wrought in God.

      "For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased . . . against all the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up, against every high tower, against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarshish and against all the beautiful craft. The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, . . . When He arises to make the earth tremble" (Isaiah 2:12-19.)

      "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, . . . so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:26-29.)

That is the weighty lesson--and how greatly needed in our day!

      Worldly Optimism. I wonder--does God think better of those "Peace-peace-when-there-is-no-peace" criers today than He did of those false prophets who cried the same in Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's time? When God has announced judgment shall man proclaim peace and blessedness?

      The Bible is pessimistic as to man--the fallen human nature, its works and progress, which is downward and away from God. It is optimistic concerning God: for through cloud and sunshine, through judgments fierce upon sinners and mercies kind toward those who trust Him He moves steadily forward to the accomplishment of His work, until at last the earth is purified and full of His glory.

      "Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness." For "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (2 Peter 3:11; 1 John 2:17.)

      Terrible as these judgments are they are under the absolute control of perfect wisdom and righteousness and fully-tested love. For it is the Lamb that unfolds those seals, and it is He that holds the book in His hand. The justice and goodness of His administration is not subject to question.

      All the forces of nature, things visible and invisible, move only at His command. "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps." (Psalms 135:6.) "For all things are Your servants." (Psalms 119:91.) [25]

      Are you astonished at the severity of God's judgments? You will not be when you know all. "You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord" (Ezekiel 14:23).

      "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb." This is said of that great white-robed multitude of Revelation 7. Their robes had not always been white, but were made white in the Blood (Isaiah 1:18). That is the sure ground of their salvation and endless bliss. "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple." What does it matter now if they did pass through that great tribulation? No tribulation shall touch them after this forever, nor any wave of trouble roll across their peaceful breasts. "They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes." So are they compensated and comforted forever. May we also have white robes through the blood of the Lamb?

Our Father: With your saints of old we would say, "My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments." We pray that to us, as to your servant John, it may be said, "Fear not," and that we may be of those who escape and are permitted to stand before Your Son. We thank you that You have not appointed us unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we may live together with Him. In His Name. Amen.

[TR4R 21-26]