When I use to go to my grandparents house as a kid there was always one thing we could always bet on happening while we were there. That is, that we would be watching Westerns for as long as we stayed there. My grandparents kept the channel ‘T.V. Land’ on all day every day. I watched Lil Bo and the Bonanza crew all the time growing up and was even excited when Veggie Tales did their own rendition of the story of Joseph with the western theme. It was legendary.
But even though the next part of Revelation has a few people riding horses, that does not mean it is a western. We are not seeing John Wayne anytime soon.
Seven Seals
John was just crying out as he is in the throne room looking at the scroll with seven seals on it that cannot be broken in God the Father’s right hand. A loud voice cries out “who is worthy to open the scroll?” And it is clear no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth are worthy. But then we find out that there is one who is worthy and it is the “lion of the tribe of Judah.” A fierce warrior who will conquer evil. When John looks though to see this lion figure, instead he seees the slaughtered lamb, the weakest creature of them all, yet this slaughtered lamb has defeated death. Jesus is this slaughtered lamb, the lion of the tribe of Judah; and he is worthy to open the scroll. Because of this great news, a new song in heaven breaks out and the Lamb begins opening the scroll, breaking the seven seals.
It is important to note, these seven seals come flowing out of each other much like nesting dolls. As we read, notice each 7 come out of the previous 7th. The 7 bowls comes out of the 7th trumpet. The trumpets come out of the 7th seal. And in all these are 3 sets of 7 divine judgements.
Four Horsemen
The first four out of 7 seals are the ones you may be most excited for because of the pop culture images and ideas around these four horsemen like figures.
The four horsemen come as follows:
1.) The first seal and horsemen is the white rider(v.1-2) who has a voice like Jesus, he has a crown like Jesus, and he is coming to conquer. This figure is an anti-Christ figure. Meaning, he is one of many who will come imitating Christ but who is not the Christ. This figure will have a lot of language of “saving its peoples from its oppressors” but is really in the world to conquer. Jesus himself even warns us about this anti christ type of figure in Matthew 24:4-5:
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.”
And for those of us who grew up in the evangelical culture that taught there is one antichrist figure and we got to be on the look out for them so that we do not miss this one antichrist. Note, the antichrist is a general term that many will be titled with. Take a look at this warning from 1 John 4:2-3:
This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person is claiming to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.(NLT)
Take note of that last line saying that the spirit of the antichrist is “already here.”
2.) The second seal and second rider comes on a red(bloody) horse. As a person covered in blood would make you think, this rider comes bringing war and death. This rider causes the culture to give into their rage and violence. This rider seeks blood and thrives when our culture cares more about our military industrial complex than about finding peace on this earth. Jesus also alludes to this rider in Matthew 24:6:
“You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.”(CSB)
3.) The third seal and third rider is the rider of the black horse. The black horse rider takes from the world what they need and leaves the world with what they do not need. This rider creates in the world this spirit of greed. Jesus alludes to this rider in Matthew 24:7:
For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
4.) The fourth seal and the final rider is the rider of the pale green horse. Now, think about this color “pale green.” It’s an ugly and gross looking color which is exactly what this rider brings. This rider brings the disease until death. He brings this, proving we will never beat death.
5.) The fifth seal is a bit different than our previous four. In verse 9-11 of Revelation 6 what we have described to us is religous persecution. Here we see Jesus followers dying for their faith and in this midst of all this persecution they are facing, they cry out: “How long O Lord?”(v.10). To which Jesus responds: “Rest a little while longer”(v.11).
6.) Our sixth seal shows us Gods ultimate response to his peoples’ cry. He brings what is called “the Day for the Lord.” A day of divine judgement. A “day of the Lord” happens continuously throughout the Bible and I say that with the intention of helping you to not think of it just as a “day in the far future where all hell breaks loose.” Here the people facing the wrath of the Lamb cry out “who is able to stand?”
This is where John takes a break and there is an interlude before we are released the 7th and final seal. Here John will be answering the question “who is able to stand?”
Summary
The seven seals are 1 set of 7 divine judgements in a larger set of 3 divine Judgements. The seven seals show for us what is at work in the world in a spiritual sense. It’s a divine drama unfolding and the question we are left asking and waiting to be answered is “who is able to stand through all the persecution and suffering this world has to offer?”
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