Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 6
6:1 And I
looked when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals; and I heard one
of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder: Come!-
The living creatures as they are in Heaven represent God in manifestation
through His Angels, who represent His people on earth. The voice of
thunder is as it were God's voice. The contrast is between the
"four beasts" of the cherubim, and the four beasts of Dan. 7 which will
reappear later in Revelation. God's heavenly Kingdom is already triumphant
over them; we are just waiting for the day when this is manifest on earth.
This is the same conflict and contrast between the Lamb with seven heads
of Rev. 5, and the various beasts with their heads and horns. The
apparently invincible are conquered by the apparently weaker, whose power
is so much greater. And this is the same principle we see in our lives of
conflict with the flesh and the world systems structured around us.
The invitation "Come!" is later
repeated by John at the end of Revelation as an invitation to come and
inherit the Kingdom. The Gospel is an invitation into the things of God,
to see things from His Heavenly perspective, from the standpoint of His
Kingdom. The repeated invitations here to "Come!" are rendered in some
manuscripts as "Come and see!". In John's language, this has meant coming
and seeing the things of the risen Lord (Jn. 20:1). It is His death and
resurrection which has opened the things of Heaven.
General
Observations
The seven seals, seven trumpets and seven vials, subdivided as they are in
places into subdivisions, all appear to be parallel. But they aren’t
necessarily describing the same events. I suggest the seals refer to the
judgments to come upon God’s people and land, Israel / the land promised
to Abraham; and trumpets and vials describe God’s commensurate judgment of
the beast system which inflicts these judgments. The similarities are
because as they have judged, so they will be judged. The cup they give
others to drink must be drunk by themselves. And it could be argued that
their judgment will be even more severe and complete. Thus in the seals, a
fourth part of things are affected; in the trumpets, a third part; whilst
the vials speak of total destruction. As with the judgments on Egypt,
which form the basis for the seven vials, the people of God may initially
be affected by the outpouring of those judgments, but those who are sealed
are saved from them.
The vials
are really bowls or cups poured out on the land. The same word is used in
one of the Aramaic targums on Is. 51:17,22,23 concerning how the “cup” of
judgment drunk by Jerusalem will be given to her judges, the beast system
of latter day Babylon. This explains why the vials / bowls / cups are
based around the plagues on Egypt, representing the abusers of Israel:
|
Vials in
Revelation |
Israel’s
experience and plagues on Egypt, Exodus |
|
Boils
16:3,4 |
9:8-12 |
|
2 and 3.
Water to blood, water sources contaminated, 16:6 |
Water to
blood 7:14-21 |
|
4.Scorching heat from the sun, 16:8,9 |
This will
specifically not come upon God’s people (Is. 49:10; Ps. 121:5,6;
Rev. 7:16), just as the later plagues did not harm the Israelites
in Egypt. |
|
5.Darkness
16:10,11 |
10:21-23 |
|
6.Gathering to Armageddon- perhaps Jerusalem. The word could mean
‘The desirable city’, ‘His fruitful mountain’, ‘the mount of
assembly’. It may refer to the Mount Megiddo. |
Mount
Megiddo was where repentant Israel won a great victory against the
Canaanites, the tribes within the land (Jud. 5:19). |
|
7.Lightning, plague |
As on
Egypt. The reference is also to Ez. 13:8-16 which describes such
things coming on Jerusalem- perhaps the idea is that those who now
dominate Jerusalem will be punished in this way. |
The first
four seals, the four coloured horsemen, are based upon the horsemen of
judgment in Zechariah 1, which vision is repeated in Zechariah 6 but with
the difference that the four horsemen go out to judge the nations who have
performed these judgments upon Israel, e.g. “the north country”. These
four horsemen inflict punishments and judgments which are full of Old
Testament allusions to prophecies concerning how God would judge His
people, His land and specifically Jerusalem for their impenitence. Ezekiel
5-7 is full of the same language about what shall come upon Jerusalem,
e.g. famine is described in the same language as in Revelation 6 (Ez.
4:16). The four judgments of Rev. 6:8 are those of Ez. 14:21- to come upon
Jerusalem. The language of Jeremiah’s prophecies against Judah are
particularly alluded in these first four seals (Jer. 6:22-26; 14:11,12;
15:1,2; 16:4,5; 18:11-21; 21:8-10; 38:2; 44:11-14). And the language of
the fifth seal is alluding to the Lord’s word of judgment upon Jerusalem
in Mt. 23:35. Most significantly, the language of the four horsemen is
taken directly from the curses upon Israel for disobedience to the
covenant in Dt. 32:23-35.
Clearly
enough, beyond any question to the serious Bible student, the focus of the
four horsemen is upon God’s people in their land, and especially the city
of Jerusalem, in the last days. The Old Testament allusions continue in
the appendix to the seals which we find in Revelation 7:1-17. There, the
sealing of some of God’s people is obviously based upon Ez. 9:4, where the
same was done to the faithful at the time of the Babylonian invasion.
The theme of
‘seven’ judgments coming upon the land surely connects with the claim that
Mohammad waged seven military campaigns against the infidels in the land
[promised to Abraham]. The Hadith several times speaks of the "seven
military expeditions led by the Messenger of Allah himself (may peace be
upon him)" (e.g. Book 19.4469), or of the “seven battles” he was
victorious in (Book 19.4462). This would explain the seven fold structure
of the seals-trumpets-vials. The Moslem pretenders to the pattern of
Mohamad bring seven judgments upon Israel, and are punished by likewise
receiving back seven judgments, drinking the cup they made others to
drink. The Hadith claims that Mohammad predicted three cycles of
calamities in the last days, which would be subdivided into various other
calamities: "Hudhaifa b. al−Yaman reported: By Allah, I have the best
knowledge amongst people about every turmoil which is going to appear in
the period intervening me and the Last Hour; and it is not for the fact
that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) told me something
confidentially pertaining to it and he did not tell anybody else about it,
but it is because of the fact that I was present in the assembly in which
he had been describing the turmoil. and he especially made a mention of
three turmoils which would not spare anything and amongst these there
would be turmoils like storms in the hot season" (41.6908). This is
exactly the Biblical picture- of three cycles of judgments and turmoils in
the land (seals-trumpets-vials), subdivided into various specific
calamities. As the jihadists strive to obey the letter of their writings,
they will thereby be fulfilling the outline picture of the last day crisis
which is foretold in Revelation.
The typology
of the invasions recorded in Judges as well as those of Babylon and
Assyria teaches that the latter day Arab incursions during the period of
prolonged downtreading will have consciously aimed to destroy the
agriculture and even the physical structure of the land of Israel. Dt. 28
and Lev. 26, which have a specific application to the latter-day curses
upon Israel, emphasize this curse of famine and its related problems of
disease and death. This is exactly the language of the seal, trumpet and
vial judgments of Rev. 6,9 and 16, largely falling upon the earth/land of
Israel. Our Lord's prophecy of famines at the time of the end had its
primary fulfilment in the land of Israel around A.D. 70 - and its
secondary reference is fundamentally to the land of Israel too (Lk.
21:11), although this does not rule out this prophecy's partial reference
to famines in the surrounding world also.
It should be noted that the record of the curses in Lev. 26 splits them up
into six sections, each introduced by a phrase like, "If ye will not for
this hearken unto me... then..." more curses would come (Lev.
26:14,18,21,23,27,36). It is tempting to associate this with
the series of six judgments to be poured upon Israel and the Arabs as
outlined in the six seals (Rev. 6) and six vials (Rev. 16), leading up to
the seventh period, of Israel's repentance and Christ's Kingdom.
There are many other points of contact between the curses and the language
of the seals and vials. The implication of this is that there are at
least six periods of God's appeal to Israel to repent through their
trials, which they will refuse to accept. "If you will not for all this
hearken unto me" (Lev. 26:18) may suggest that God's word will be
spoken to Israel along with the trials. This again indicates that the
Elijah ministry will operate within Israel during their period of Arab
downtreading. "If you will not be reformed by me" (Lev. 26:23) uses
a Hebrew word elsewhere translated 'to teach', defined by Strong as 'to
chastise by words'. This provides further confirmation of the idea.
It’s
noteworthy that the seven seals and seven trumpets and seven vials all
conclude with the seventh being the establishment of the Kingdom. So there
are actually six judgments in each case. The Hadith (Book 41.7040) speaks
of six signs before the last day: "Hasten in performing these good deeds
(before these) six things (happen): (the appearance) of tribe Dijjal, the
smoke, the beast of the earth, the rising of the sun from the west, the
general turmoil (leading to large-scale massacre) and death of masses and
individuals". These six are very similar to the things spoken of in the
seals and trumpets- signs in the sun, mass death, smoke, beasts of the
earth. The jihadists are seeking to consciously fulfil the Hadith and so,
due to the allusions the Hadith and Koran make to Revelation, they will
end up fulfilling God’s word of their own volition.
The Seventh
Seal?
It is my belief that prophecy is to some extent conditional, and the
outcome is variable upon human repentance, God’s gracious holding back of
legitimate, prepared judgments, the intensity of His people’s prayers etc.
The lack of any detail about a seventh seal, even though it is opened, is
significant. All we read is that there was silence in Heaven at that time
for half an hour (Rev. 8:1). This has the same feel to it as the seven
thunders whose details were specifically not written down (Rev. 10:4). Why
mention them? I submit that the final judgments intended upon the land and
God’s people are not in fact going to be performed, although they are
potentially prepared- because of God’s gracious response to human
repentance, prayer and the suffering of His dear people.
This idea
that the seventh seal is not opened is confirmed by the observation that
the sixth seal is the composite one that contains the trumpet and vial
prophecies — the sixth seal and not the seventh.
|
Sixth
Seal |
Seven
Trumpets |
|
(Revelation 6: 12-17) |
|
|
great
earthquake |
great
earthquake (11:13) |
|
another
earthquake (11:19) |
|
|
sun black |
third part
of sun smitten (8: 12) |
|
moon as
blood |
third part
of moon smitten (8:12) |
|
stars fall
from heaven |
"there
fell a great star from heaven" (8:10) |
|
third part
of stars smitten (8:12) |
|
|
the great
day of his wrath |
"your
wrath is come" (11:18) |
|
Sixth Seal |
Seven
Vials |
||
|
great
earthquake |
great
earthquake (16:18) |
||
|
sun black |
darkness
in kingdom of beast |
||
|
islands
moved |
every
island fled away (16:20) |
||
|
mountains
moved |
mountains
were not found (16:20) |
||
|
the great
day of his wrath |
the vials
of the wrath of God (16:1) |
||
The Seals and the Olivet Prophecy
It is clear enough that the Olivet Prophecy has application both to the
"last days" of AD70 and also to our last days. Revelation is the Lord's
expansion upon His words on Olivet- and therefore we should use this as a
framework for interpreting the book. It applies to both the first century
and also our last days, and the seals are perhaps the clearest example of
this.
|
Rev. 6:1,2 |
Mt. 24:14 |
Rev. 6:14 |
Mt. 24:35 |
|
:3,4 |
:6,7 |
:16 |
Lk. 23:30 |
|
:5,6 |
:7 |
:17 |
Lk. 21:36 |
|
:7,8 |
:7 |
7:1 |
Mt. 24:31 |
|
:9 |
:12 |
:3 |
Lk.
21:18,28 |
|
:11 |
:14 |
:14 |
Mt.
24:19,21 |
|
:12 |
:7 |
8:3 |
Lk. 21:36 |
|
:13 |
:32 |
:5 |
Mt. 24:27 |
John was
told that the events of the seals "must take place"- dei genesthai.
The Olivet prophecy uses the same phrase (Mt. 24:6; Lk. 21:9).
We have seen
that the Olivet prophecy describes the events of both AD70 and our present
last days, with special reference to the tribulation of God's people, both
natural and spiritual. The connections between the Olivet prophecy and the
seals would therefore indicate that the seals, and therefore much of
Revelation, has reference to these same two time periods. Fairly
conclusive evidence for a pre-AD70 date for Revelation has now been
published. In any case, the connections with the Olivet prophecy cannot be
shrugged off as incidental. The seals, then, can be applied to our latter
day tribulation. There seems no reason to insist that they should be
interpreted chronologically; they can quite comfortably be seen as
describing different aspects of the same period. This is how series of
judgments described in the prophets often have their fulfilment (notably
in Isaiah), rather than being a chronological prophecy of events. Zech.
12:3-11 is a passage which contains seven occurrences of the phrase "In
that day...". The passage does not have to be interpreted chronologically;
this is a list of events which will occur around the same time, "in that
day". They are snapshots of the same scene from different angles. The
seals and the repeated references to a three and a half year tribulation
period can be understood likewise; they do not necessarily refer to
chronologically different events, but are giving different aspects of
information about the same basic scene. The lack of strict chronological
sequence in prophecy is a major feature of the Old Testament; thus a
consideration of the phrase “in that day..." in Isaiah reveals that the
context 'jumps around' all over the place, from the first coming of Christ
to the Babylonian invasion to the Kingdom. There is no reason to think
that Revelation is any different.
All the
seals must be opened if a scroll is to be opened. The scroll doesn’t
become partly visible because one seal has been broken. I suggest the
imagery is chosen in this way in order to lead us away from seeking to
interpret the events of the seals as being continuous historic,
consecutive events. Rather are they different aspects of the total picture
of what has to happen before the book of life can be opened. The idea of
opening a sealed scroll is obviously alluding to Dan. 12:1-4, where Daniel
was told that the scroll would be opened specifically in the last days-
i.e. the seals to it would be then removed. This means that we have to
look to the last days for the time when the seals are removed.
In my youth
I attended regular continuous historic studies of Revelation, noting
carefully in my wide margined Bible the suggested fulfilments of the
various seals, trumpets and vials in events during the Roman empire and
subsequent European history. Some of these fitted better than others. I
couldn’t deny that there was a fairly good fit in some areas, but in
others, eyebrows had to be raised. The fit seemed forced and lacked the
ring of truth in terms of credible interpretation. We don’t need to take a
red pencil and put a line through all those interpretations. Like the
continuous historical interpretations of the image in Daniel 2, they have
a certain validity. But just as the image was specifically about a latter
day entity which stands erect and complete in the land promised to Abraham
in the last days, destroyed in totality by the Lord’s return, so
Revelation has its major fulfilment in the last days. Any shadowy
fulfilments we may discern over history are incidental compared to the
ultimate and main, intended thrust of latter day prophecy- which is
focused upon the events in the land promised to Abraham in the last days
before Christ returns. We live at the end of human history; the previous
fulfilments are but mere shadows compared to the ultimate reality which is
now starting to unfold before our eyes.
The Horsemen
The Hadith claims that the Moslems will be as horsemen in the final
conflict at the end of the age: "The Last Hour would not come until...
there would be a terrible fight and the Muslims would prepare a detachment
(for fighting unto death) which would not return but victorious... Allah
will decree that the enemy should be routed... Allah's Messenger (may
peace be upon him) said: I know their names and the names of their
forefathers and the colour of their horses. They will be best horsemen on
the surface of the earth on that day". (41.6927). As we find so often in
Revelation, the descriptions of the main players are expressed in terms
which fit admirably with Moslem self-understanding as expressed in the
Koran and Hadith.
The Four
Horsemen and Zechariah
The vision of horses going forth to bring judgment is clearly alluding to
the similar vision in Zech. 1:8-12; 6:1-8, and we need to get a handle on
what is in view there in order to understand how this will come true in
the last days:
“I stared
into the night, and there was a man mounted on a red horse! The horse was
standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him there were red,
brown, and white horses. Then I asked, "Who are these, sir?" The messenger
who was talking to me answered, "I will tell you who these are." The man
who stood among the myrtle trees answered, "These are the ones whom the
LORD sent out to wander throughout the earth." Then they reported to the
angel of the LORD who stood among the myrtle trees, "We have wandered
throughout the earth—and look!—the entire earth is at rest. Everything is
quiet and peaceful." And the angel of the LORD replied, "LORD of the
Heavenly Armies, how long will it be until you show mercy to Jerusalem and
to the cities of Judah, with whom you have been angry for these past
seventy years?"… Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots
came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of
bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the
third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them
strong. Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me,
"What are these, my lord?". And the angel answered and said to me, "These
are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves
before the Lord of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes
toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled
ones go toward the south country." When the strong horses came out, they
were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, "Go, patrol the
earth." So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me,
"Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest
in the north country."
The horses
of Zechariah 1 are those nations who have trampled up and down the earth /
land of Israel, subduing it until it is quiet. The chariots / horses of
Zechariah 6 are the Angel cherubim representatives of those nations, who
are sent out against them in judgment. Such judgment is portended in
chapter 1 also, where straight after the vision of the horses we read of
the four horns who have abused Israel being cut off by the carpenter
Messiah of Israel. Significantly, there is an Angel stationed with the
horses in the valley from which they emerge, as if to show that the
judgments upon the land were Angelically controlled; Israel was not at the
hands of chance human evil, indeed the horses report back to the Angel.
This sets the scene for the horses / chariots of chapter 6 going out in
judgment against those nations. The land lying still and at rest is
explained further in 1:11,12- it was because the cities of Judah were
lying in ruins after the horse powers had trampled over them. This all
looks forward to how Jerusalem shall be trodden down in the last days,
after the pattern of how the Babylonians trod it down (Is. 5:5; 28:18;
63:18; Lk. 21:24)- which is when this prophecy will have its final
fulfilment. We can look, therefore, for the three or four entities which
trod down the land and people of Israel to have their latter day
equivalent, and a like judgment from Heaven. And this is what Revelation 6
is explaining in more detail- in a latter day context. The immediate
message in Zechariah’s time was therefore that a future treading down of
the land and Jerusalem was to happen, but the silver lining of that cloud
was that this would finally lead to the eternal restoration of Israel.
This is exactly the same style as in Ezekiel 38; we noted in studying the
context of that prophecy that it was given at the time when news of
Jerusalem’s fall had come to the rebellious captives in Babylon amongst
whom Ezekiel was sitting. They were being told that another even worse
desolation was to happen, patterned after the events they were now hearing
of, and yet from this would come the eternal restoration of Israel in
God’s Kingdom on earth. But not immediately.
The two
brass mountains of Zech. 6 are from where the horses / judgments issue
forth- towards the north and south of Israel. The mountains must therefore
be in central Israel. I suggest the mountains in view are both in
Jerusalem- the Mount of Olives and Mount Zion, in between which is the
valley of Jehoshaphat. These mountains and that valley are from where
God’s latter day judgments proceed (Joel 3:2,16; Zech. 14:14). Or it may
be that they are the two mountains formed by the cleavage of the Mount of
Olives predicted in Zech. 14:4, at which time “half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north, and half toward the south”. This would connect
with the horses / chariots going out towards the north and south here in
Zech. 6. Any difficulties with exact chronology may be accounted for by
the suggestion that the meaning and nature of time will change in the time
around the Lord’s coming, as I have outlined at length in The Last Days.
The four
horses / chariots are understood by most commentators to have connection
with the four metals and beasts of Daniel’s prophecies. Their connection
with the four winds / spirits of the Heavens (Zech. 6:5) recalls the way
that the four beasts of Daniel 7 arise as a result of the same four winds
/ spirits being active. I have explained elsewhere that the four metals
and beasts of Daniel’s prophecies refer to powers that will dominate the
land and people of Israel in the last days, whatever historical
application they may have had. The metals and beasts all exist together in
the last days, because they are all judged together at the coming of
Christ to earth.
Potential
Fulfilments of the Horses of Zechariah Chapters 1 and 6
The way prophetic words can be rescheduled in fulfilment is demonstrated
by the 70 years. They came to fulfilment at the time of Daniel’s prayer in
Dan. 9:2; but also at the fall of Babylon and edict of Cyrus (2 Chron.
36:22,23; Ezra 1:1); and yet also in the second year of Darius (Zech.
1:1,12). This latter period would have been timed from the actual
destruction of the temple (2 Kings 25:2,8,9); whereas the captivity began
before that. And the predicted restoration didn’t happen as prophesied.
But it will ultimately happen- at the Lord’s return.
The little
horn of Daniel 7 grows out of the fourth kingdom, represented by the
fourth beast. But in Daniel 8, a very similar horn grows out of Greece,
the third kingdom. We can therefore conclude that the antichrist figure of
Daniel 8 would have appeared as an outgrowth of the Greek kingdom, and
been destroyed by Messiah’s coming. But this didn’t happen, and Antiochus
Epiphanes became but an incipient fulfilment of the antichrist of the last
days. Zechariah, like Daniel, contains many conditional prophecies- “And
this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of
the Lord your God” (Zech. 6:15). Zech. 9:13 appears to be another such
conditional prophecy, similar in reference to that of Daniel 8 about the
possibility of Messiah’s coming at the time of the Greek empire. God says
He will place Ephraim within the bow of Judah, to be fired at her enemies;
and He would “raise up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece”
(Zech. 9:13), leading to the final salvation of God’s people, the
establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom, and her Messianic king coming unto her
(Zech. 9:9). But this didn’t come true; the resistance of the Maccabees
was not based on true spirituality, and the Romans took over control of
the land from the Greeks. No Messianic Kingdom was established. This would
explain the purposeful ambiguity of interpretation which there is in the
image of Daniel 2; a good case can be made for the sequence
Babylon-Media-Persia-Greece, and yet also for the sequence Babylon-Medo
Persia- Greece-Rome. Daniel 8 predicts the breakup of the Greek empire
after Alexander’s death into four horns, out of which a little horn arises
(Dan. 8:8). The only other prophetic reference to four horns is again in
Zechariah, when we read of how the four horns who had scattered God’s
people were to be cut off by the carpenters (Zech. 1:18,19). The
carpenters surely look forward to the carpenter Messiah. He could have
appeared and cut off those four horns; but He did not, and so another
prophetic sequence was allowed, in which another [fourth] beast arose,
this time with ten horns, not just four. And in Revelation we find this
developed further, in that seven heads also appear on the beast, and a
whore rides the best, sitting upon [another?] seven hills / kingdoms. The
number and ferocity of the enemies of God’s people seems to increase over
time. If Israel had repented earlier, then all this would have been
unnecessary. The three horses of Zechariah 1 thus become four horses in
Zechariah 6. The fact the four cherubim chariots are sent out in judgment
of those same coloured horses speaks of how all earthly entities have
their representative Angels in Heaven.
This same
situation can be found in the way that Zechariah 1 opens the prophecy with
a vision of three kinds of horses- red, white and speckled. These
represented the powers which had subdued the land of Judah and left it in
the desolate state it was at the time of Zechariah (Zech. 1:12). It’s
tempting to interpret them as Assyria, Babylon and Medo-Persia; or perhaps
Babylon, Media and Persia. Straight away, we read of four horns,
representing the powers who had desolated God’s people; and how they would
be destroyed by the carpenters, surely looking forward to the carpenter
Messiah. And the vision of Zech. 6 has four and not three
kinds of horses- red, black, white and speckled. This may be Zechariah’s
way of saying that because of Israel’s inability to fulfil the required
spiritual preconditions, the longer version of the prophetic program was
going to come into play. Although as always, there is the distinct message
of hope, that finally God’s triumphant purpose with Israel shall come to
realization.
The Final
Scenario
The vision of Zechariah 6 could have had fulfilment in Zechariah’s time;
the three horses of Gentile oppressors in chapter 1 are matched by the
horses of the Divine cherubim in chapter 6, who are sent forth to judge
those powers. But there are four of them- because by the time of chapter
6, the prophetic program had been extended to coax repentance from Israel.
And now in Revelation 6, we have a similar scene in the last days- four
horses of different colours are sent out into the earth / land of Israel.
The context is the same- these are the powers which will dominate Israel
in the last days, under Angelic control, in order to bring about her
repentance and eternal restitution to God. I don’t think we have to look
for four literal entities. The ‘four’ clearly connect with the four beasts
and four metals, and the speckled horses of Zechariah invite comparison
with the feet or iron and clay; especially if we read the Hebrew amots
in Zech. 6:3 as meaning ‘red’ [AV “bay”]- they would be speckled with red,
as if the strength of the red horse was partially in them. Until
Zechariah’s time, there had been various horses of Gentile powers, the
fulfilments of the metals of Daniel 2 and the beasts of Daniel 7,
dominating the land and people of Israel. They had trodden down the land
and people until they were silent (Zech. 1:10,11). This treading down is
to happen in the last days, when the image stands complete, and all the
beasts exist together. This is the burden of the first four horses
pictured in the first four seals.
We need not
look for these events to come chronologically; for all the seals have to
be removed before a scroll can be opened. The event of ‘opening the
scroll’ is presented by the metaphor as one event, and the seals are
presenting different aspects of the events required for the scroll to be
opened.
The horses
were “sent” by Yahweh “to walk to and fro through the land” (Zech. 1:10).
These are the same Hebrew words found in Jer. 25:9 for how Yahweh “sent…
all the families of the north…and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” into the
land. The horses are thus confirmed to represent the nations who had
subjugated the land. And the same Hebrew words are found in Hab. 1:6: “I
raise up the Chaldeans… which shall march [s.w. “walk to and fro”] through
the land”. These horses are effectively parallel with the four horns who
‘scattered’ Israel (Zech. 1:19). Israel were to be “scattered [s.w.]
beyond the Euphrates” (1 Kings 14:15); the number four is not perhaps
referring to four specific powers, but rather alluding to the way that
Israel’s domination according to Daniel’s visions was to be by ‘four’
entities.
The coloured
horsemen of Revelation 6 are therefore full of reference to the nations
who subdued the land and people of Israel, and also to the Angelic powers
who ultimately permitted those nations to do that work, and who finally
judged them. The horsemen are presented in Revelation as clearly under the
control of the living creatures, the Angel cherubim, and that was the same
as in Zechariah. The first horse was white and conquering; this doesn’t
mean that firstly there was a period of military victory, followed by one
of hunger and necessity. The seals don’t have to be chronologically
separate from each other. The opening of the book of life will require a
military conquering of the land / earth of Israel, as well as the
sufferings of the other seals [hunger, famine etc.].
6:2 And I
looked and beheld a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow, and
there was given to him a crown, and he came forth conquering and to
conquer- In the first century application to the "last days" which
culminated in AD70, the rider on the white horse "bent on conquest" would
initially refer to the victorious Roman march towards Jerusalem in Spring
67. The rider takes peace from the earth (cp. Mt. 24:6,7)- the disruption
of the 'pax Romana', the peace of the Roman empire. "Caesar has
obtained for us a profound peace. There are neither wars nor battles"
(Epictetus, Discourses 3:13:9). The riders on the black and pale
horses would then refer to the famine and death resulting from the Jewish
war.
The
description of the rider on the white horse going out to conquer is
intended to be linked with the description of the Lord Jesus in Rev.
19:11. Yet the rider of Rev. 6:1,2 is part of the judgments upon the land.
It refers to an anti-Christ, a fake Christ, the ultimate false Messiah;
perhaps the Islamic Mahdi.
The white
horse here must be understood as the latter day version of the white horse
of Zechariah chapters 1 and 6, which went forth to conquer the land
promised to Abraham and to tread down its cities and inhabitants. The
simple point is that the land of Israel will be conquered; the current
technological advantage of the IDF and the bravado of the state of Israel
will not ultimately save them. Only faith in Christ will. And yet the
figure of a rider on a white horse is used later in Revelation regarding
the Lord Jesus. This doesn’t mean that it is the Lord Jesus who is in view
here in 6:2. For often in Revelation, the powers and entities who dominate
God’s land and people are presented in terms elsewhere used about the true
Kingdom of God and its king. Thus the whore who rides the beast represents
the city of Babylon, but the descriptions used have clear connection with
the description of the true city of God. This is not to say that they are
one and the same. It means that the antiChrist is a fake, imitation
Christ, and his Kingdom is likewise an imitation of the true. So the white
horse conqueror of the land is an antiChrist- bearing in mind that the
Greek idea of anti carries the idea of an equivalent or imitation,
rather than [as in Latin] someone ‘against’. The Hadith in book
19.4388.4390, 4392 and 4437 claim that Mohammad rode on a white horse
during the time of the early Moslem battles with the Jews. The language of
conquering is very current amongst Islamic jihadists: "Allah hath decreed:
Lo! I verily shall conquer" (Sura 58.21).
The horses
invite connection with the locusts like horses and “the sound of chariots
of many horses rushing to battle” in Rev. 9:7,9,17, which I later
interpret as the hordes of Israel’s neighbours from the Euphrates who will
rush into the land promised to Abraham to destroy it. Horses are
frequently used in the Bible to represent military action. In Rev. 14:20,
blood comes up unto the horse bridles- these invaders meet a terrible
destruction. The final destruction of Israel’s enemies features the
destruction of their horses (Rev. 19:18), and that prophecy compares their
horses with the white horse of the Lord Jesus and His followers also on
white horses (Rev. 19:11,14,19,21). This juxtaposition of ‘horses’
suggests that the white horse conqueror of 6:2 is not Christ, but rather
an antichrist, an imitation, fake Christ.
The rider on
the white horse was “given” a crown, a stephanos of victory, and
with that ‘gift’ he goes out to ‘conquer’. We find the same Greek words
translated ‘given’ and ‘to conquer’ in Rev. 13:7, where “the mouth” of the
beast is “given… to make war with the saints [God’s people, Israel] and to
overcome [s.w. “conquer”] them”. The mouth of the beast is his
publicity agent, the false prophet, the little horn- the antichrist
figure. And it is this same individual who is pictured in 6:2 as riding
the white horse, an imitation Jesus, an anti-Christ. The same Greek word
translated conquer / overcome is also found in a similar context in Rev.
11:7: “The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit [having
experienced a death and amazing ‘resurrection’] shall make war against
them [the two faithful witnesses] and shall overcome them and kill
them”. But the same word is found frequently throughout Revelation and
John’s letters, speaking of how ultimately God’s people shall conquer /
overcome. The point is, they will temporarily be overcome, but they shall
gloriously overcome at the end. “A troop shall overcome him, but he shall
overcome at the last” (Gen. 49:19).
The crown of
the antichrist connects with how the horns of the beast have crowns. His
bow connects him with Gog, the individual leader of the assembly of ten
nations from within the land promised to Abraham who will invade Israel in
the last days. In Gog’s defeat by Divine intervention, his bow will be
smitten out of his hand (Ez. 39:3). The bow is the weapon of Esau / Edom,
the father of the Arab peoples (Gen. 27:3); and it is repeatedly used
about the weaponry of the Babylonians and Assyrians and the neighbours of
Israel, whose desolation of the land and Jerusalem are the prototypes of
the latter day desolation (Is. 5:28; 13:18; Jer. 4:29; 6:23; 46:9;
50:29,42; 51:56). Jeremiah perceived that the bow of Babylon was
effectively the bow of Yahweh, drawn against His own people in judgment
(Lam. 2:4; 3:12). Again we see that the horses, their riders and weaponry
are also those of God, just as the coloured horses of Zech. 1 are matched
by the same coloured horses which comprised the Angel cherubim in Zech. 6.
Zech. 9:10 speaks of how the horse, chariot and battle how will be “cut
off from Jerusalem” just prior to the establishment of God’s Kingdom on
earth. Here in Rev. 6:2 we have the development of that situation- and the
focus will finally be upon Jerusalem as the holy city of Islam, now
proclaimed by some Jihadist theologians as more holy than Mecca.
6:3 And
when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying:
Come!- See on :1
6:4 And
another horse came forth, a red horse, and to him that sat thereon it was
given to take peace from the earth, that they should slay one another. And
there was given to him a great sword- The red horse is literally a
flame / fire coloured horse [purrhos]. The same root word is found
in describing how the horses released from beyond the Euphrates spit
“fire” [pur] upon the earth / land of Israel, with which they
destroy the people there (Rev. 9:17,18). Perhaps the “fire, smoke and
brimstone” which they bring upon the land means that they consciously
think they are bringing Divine judgment upon Israel- this is indeed the
radical Islamist position. Or there may be reference to some form of
warfare which makes use of fire, some kind of white phosphorous or other
weaponry which creates intense fire which water cannot quench. The only
other time we meet the colour ‘flame-coloured’ [“red”] is at Rev. 12:3,
the great red dragon. This horse is therefore to be associated with that
system of latter day domination of the land.
Constantly,
the comfort is given that none of these calamities upon the land are a
result of radical evil, evil that is totally free of any control; for "it
was given unto him...". All the traumas to come upon the land are under
direct Divine control through the Angels.
"Him that
sat thereon" is the same phrase used of how the whore sits upon the beast
(Rev. 17:1,3,9,15; 18:7). The whore is the embodiment of the beast, of the
same red colour as the red horse. They are symbols for the same thing- an
entity of latter day domination of the land which is controlled by an
individual-the antichrist, the rider of the horse, the rider of the beast.
It is
ultimately the Lord Jesus who sends a sword rather than peace upon the
earth (Mt. 10:34); the horses and their woes are all, therefore, under His
direct control. There seems to be allusion to Mt. 10:34 because Rev. 6:4
goes on to say the red horse rider has a sword, and he causes those in the
earth / land to kill each other. Mt. 10:34 records the Lord teaching that
He had come to send a sword in the form of division between persons. The
red horse rider causes those living in the territory of the land promised
to Abraham to kill each other; and this is the scenario we currently see
unfolding in that very area. It is conflicting forms of religion which are
clearly at the root of that conflict; this is the characteristic of the
feet of mixed iron and clay, that will not cleave to each other.
Revelation
is written in Greek but is clearly a Hebrew book. We can safely assume
that the ge / "the earth" in view is the same as the Hebrew
eretz- the land of Israel. And this is indeed how ge is often
specifically used in the New Testament in speaking of the land of Israel.
In Matthew alone: Mt. 2:6,20,21; 5:35; 9:26; 12:42 the Queen of Sheba came
from the uttermost part of the ge, the land promised to Abraham;
17:25; 23:35 “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth”; 27:35. And
almost every reference to ge in Revelation can be understood as the
land promised to Abraham [this of course is not the same as the territory
currently occupied by the state of Israel].
The great
sword was "given unto him". Again the idea is that these invasions of the
land are allowed and even empowered by God. The idea of being given a
sword likewise implies that the horse and rider are executing judgment
from God. This is how present day Israel are crying out for serious Divine
judgment, from the immorality of Tel Aviv to the arrogance of the IDF,
overarched by a refusal to repent for crucifying God’s Son and refusing
Him to this day.
The Greek
translated “sword” is the word for a knife; being given a great knife has
connotations of sacrifice. We think of Islamic State beheadings,
publicized by them with pictures of jihadists holding a knife over their
victims. This is exactly the picture we have here. This is what we are
seeing before our eyes on the media.
6:5 And
when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying:
Come! And I looked and beheld a black horse, and he that sat thereon had a
balance in his hand- The black horses of Zech. 6 were sent into “the
north country”, associating this horse with the invasion from the latter
day Assyria / Babylon. It could be that the message is simply that there
will be terrible famine in the land, and tiny amounts of food will cost
much money. But the rider has the balances in his hand, as if he is the
merchant and seller. We think of the prediction that none will be able to
buy or sell without the mark of the beast; the suggestion may be that the
invading power sells food to some within the land for high prices.
Islamic militants insist upon conversion to their form of Islam but will
make concessions if a jizya tax is paid. So it may be that we have
here a description of how famine will come about for God’s people as a
result of such actions.
6:6 And I
heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying:
A measure of wheat for a denarius and three measures of barley for a
denarius- Comparing the prices here with those mentioned for food
during the siege of Samaria in 2 Kings 7, these prices are very high but
not as great as when “an ass's head was sold for 80 shekels, and the
fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five” (2 Kings 6.25). The figures
are not such as we would expect if real famine, and particularly the
famine conditions of a siege, were in view. A man could buy three times as
much barley as he needed for a day's wage. This isn’t talking about actual
death by famine, but rather food being sold at grossly inflated prices
compared to income- that’s surely the impression being created. This would
fit my suggestion that the dominators of Israel are pictured as selling
food at grossly inflated prices to those under their control, in a manner
reminiscent of the Jewish ghettos of central Europe under Nazi domination.
And do not
damage the oil and the wine- The GNB appears to be closest to interpreting this: "Do not damage the
olive trees and the vineyards!", as if this is a command or edict.
Perhaps the allusion is to the way that during the famine in the
time John was writing, Domitian ordered the prosecution of
those who allowed their vineyards to go out of
cultivation or who cut them down in order to grow food. In this case, we
have a picture of extreme famine, along with prosperity- to the point that
the ruling elite ordered that the vineyards must not be cut down, lest
they have no wine. This was how it was during the famine in Domitian's
time- a shortage of grain but an abundance of wine. This is exactly the
kind of inequality we see in the world today and which will be seen in the
land promised to Abraham in the last days. Possibly Jewish wealth
contrasted to Arab need.
The Greek translated "hurt" occurs
several times later in Revelation, also in the sense of hurting or
damaging. The Angel of Rev. 7:2,3 is told not to "hurt" the physical land
until God's servants have been sealed. And likewise in Rev. 9:4, there is
the proviso that men must be hurt, but not the plants of the land. The
word is used about the hurting of the people on the earth (Rev. 9:10,19),
and the faithful are initially not "hurt"- until they are killed after
they have completed their witness (Rev. 11:5). The voice that states "hurt
not the olive trees and the vineyards" comes from between the four beasts-
it is an Angelic limitation placed upon the damagers of the land / people
in the land promised to Abraham. The sense may be that initially, the
physical land is not to be damaged; the people of God, and then the entire
dwellers in the land, are to be 'hurt', and not the physical land.
Therefore the lack of food created by the rider on the black horse would
not be because of famine, but rather as I suggested- because of selling
food at high prices as a form of destruction of those who refuse to
convert to the Islamic State.
Another
consideration is that the phrase could be rendered "Hands off our oil and
wine!". Oil and wine occur together in pictures of abundance and luxurious
living (Num. 18:12; Dt. 7:13; 8:8; 28:51; 2 Chron. 11:11; 32:28; Prov.
21:17; Jer. 40:40; Joel 2.24); and note especially that these are part of
the luxury of the Babylon-beast system in Rev. 18:13. The implication
could be that the desolators of Israel enjoy a brief period of opulence,
having grabbed the wealth of Israel and the Jews, and submitting those
they have conquered to heavy jizya tax and exorbitant prices for
food.
6:7 And
when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living
creature saying: Come!- See on :1.
6:8 And I
looked and beheld a pale horse, and he that sat upon him. His name was
Death, and Hades followed behind him. And there was given to them
authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine
and with death and by the wild beasts of the earth- The plural "given
unto them" presumably refers to death and hades. It’s unclear
whether "the fourth part of the earth" is geographical, or refers to a
quarter of the population. The idea which we meet in the Revelation of
'parts' of the land and people being damaged or killed is in line with the
Koran, which speaking of judging "the children of Israel" says that
Moslems are "to cut off a part of those who disbelieve" (Sura 7.127).
As it
stands, it seems redundant to say that death and the grave [hades]
kill with sword, famine, wild beasts and death. How can ‘death’ be one of
the four listed methods of killing? Perhaps it refers to some specific
kind of death- a death penalty of execution (the word is used in this way
in Mt. 10:21; 15:4; 20:18). Likewise how can any one horse rider have
power over wild animals? The first century fulfilment was clearly in
Christians being thrown to the lions; a related word is used for how Paul
fought with wild beasts (1 Cor. 15:21). I would suggest that the latter
day fulfilment will be in that those who refuse to convert will meet their
end in one of four ways at the hands of this horse rider- death by the
sword, i.e. in battle; by controlled and enforced starvation, as in the
Nazi death camps; “death” in the sense of the death penalty; or death by
being thrown to wild animals, as was done to the early Christians by the
Romans.
The Greek word translated “sword” here is rhompaia, which has
already been used of that proceeding from the mouth of the Lord Jesus
(1:16; 2:12,16). It is connected not so much with killing in battle or
war, but with deliberate, judicial, putting to death. This recalls the
Islamic jihadist approach to killing those who will not convert to Islam-
they are seen as being killed in a judicial sense, before a court of
Moslems who are both judge, jury and prosecution, as well as the execution
squad.
The four
judgments mentioned here clearly allude to the judgments upon the
land of Israel for disobedience (Lev. 26:21-26), and also to Ez. 14:21: “I send upon
Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts,
and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!”. The ‘fourth part’ of
the land that is thus judged is therefore likely to be Jerusalem. Again we
see that the location of the ‘earth’ is not the entire globe but the land
promised to Abraham. The Ezekiel passage goes on to say that out of those
judgments will come forth a repentant remnant- which is the same picture
we have throughout latter day prophecy. It is this remnant which will
enable the return of Christ to Israel. The same pattern is to be found in
Ez. 33:27-29; the four judgments on the land, involving a total
desolation, result in the repentance of the remnant: “Thus says the Lord
Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by
the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to
be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall
die of the pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and an
astonishment; the pride of her power shall cease and the mountains of
Israel shall be desolate [i.e. not producing food- leading to famine], so
that none shall pass through. Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when
I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all
their abominations which they have committed”.
6:9- see on Lk. 18:7; Dan. 5:23; Rom. 14:8,9.
And when he
opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those that
had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held-
All the people of God make "testimony". That is a major theme of
Revelation. The image here may not, therefore, have to refer to the deaths
of some specific martyrs at a specific point in time.
The allusion is to how “The blood of the bull
the priest shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering”
(Lev. 4:7). We are all committed to a sacrificial death, because we were
baptized into the death of Jesus. We are living sacrifices. They were told
that vengeance for them would only come when the full number of martyrs
had been made up; and that rather sounds like the idea of there being a
specific number of believers, which once arrived at will trigger the
Lord's return [when "the full number of the Gentiles are come in", Rom.
11:25]. We are all the martyrs. That is the idea. The Jewish Christians
were tempted to look to the Maccabean martyrs and emulate them. But the
true witness / martyrdom was for the witnesss of Jesus, following Him who
was the faithful and true witness. We are all to make that witness, rather
than merely being supporters of others who are showcased as martyrs.
The fact
the people are ‘slain’ on the altar connects with our comment on ‘death’
in 6:8. These are those slain by the Islamic militants for refusing to
convert to their false religion. The allusion is to the blood at the base
of the altar from the sacrifices, representing the blood or lives lived of
the faithful who had been sacrificed. It is blood which is under the
altar; the "souls" are represented by the blood. The witness of their
lives, who they essentially were, cried out to God, just as Abel’s blood
cried out. Cain, his brother, becomes the prototype of Israel’s latter day
persecutors- it is their own half-brothers, their Arab neighbours, who
slay them. The Hebrew for 'Cain' is the root of the word 'Canaan'. The
persecutors of the faithful are Canaan- the inhabitants of Canaan,
Israel's aggressive neighbours
In their
death they as it were died with their Lord, the slain lamb (Rev. 5:6). The
Greek suggests to be butchered, which is absolutely the behaviour of the
jihadists to their victims. Note that those in view are not necessarily
Western hostages, but those who are butchered for the sake of their
witness to God's word. What we are seeing in the butchering of any who get
in the way of the Islamic militants in the 'earth' / land promised to
Abraham is a precursor of what can be expected on a wider scale,
especially of true Christians witnessing to God's word.
The
believer’s death is a pouring out of blood on the altar (Phil. 2:17 Gk.),
which is language highly appropriate to the Lord’s death. It follows from
this that the death of one in Christ is the pinnacle of their spiritual
maturity, as the Lord’s death was the pinnacle of His. It is a spiritual
victory, more than the temporal domination of the flesh which it can
appear.
Their
preaching God's word was a marturia, a legal testament at court,
and this was the basis of their martyrdom. The jihadists believe that all
who refuse to accept their version of Islam must in some form come before
an Islamic court, often presided over by themselves as both judge and
prosecution, and then be legally butchered as a result. From their
perspective, they are not guilty of wanton butchering; they claim they are
doing it in fulfilment of Muslim legal requirements. The parallel is in
Rev. 20:4: “Them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for
the word of God; and such as worshipped not the Beast nor his image and
received not his mark”. The ‘slaying’ is particularly by beheading; and
Islam is the only world religion today which legitimizes and practices
beheading. And they are publicly doing it.
Seeing that
there is no conscious survival of death, could this not refer to the
guardian Angels of the former martyrs, crying out for the blood of their
charges to be avenged? They are so closely identified with them
that they can ask for “our blood” to be avenged. It’s apparent enough that
this is not the people themselves speaking- for they are dead. Surely then
it refers to their Angels, who identify so strongly with them? Perhaps in
the same way, Rev. 5:10 has guardian Angels thanking Jesus for making “us”
king-priests to reign on earth. And when the believers are finally
glorified, there is an ecstatic voice in Heaven, exalting that the Lamb’s
wife has made herself ready (Rev. 19:6). Surely this must refer to the
Angels rejoicing that their charges have finally made it to salvation? We,
for whom they laboured perhaps for centuries, preparing our genetic pool
[note how the Angels “prepared” Edom unto destruction long before it
happened, Ez. 35:6), and the myriad of circumstances we would meet which
were designed to bring us towards the Kingdom. No wonder they will be so
ecstatic. Or in another figure, the blood of the dead believers cries out
from under the altar, demanding vengeance on this world: on the Catholic,
Protestant, Babylonian, Roman, Nazi, Soviet systems that slew them for
their faith (Rev. 6:9). To God, their blood is a voice, just as real as
the voice of Abel, which cried out (in a figure) for judgment against Cain
(Gen. 4:10). After their death, those who had already died are spoken of
as being given “white robes” and being told to rest a bit longer. Yet the
white robe is given at baptism; a man may cast off Christ, but the
prodigal is given again the robe if he returns (Lk. 15:22 s.w.); we are
given white robes in this life through our acceptance of the blood of
Christ and living in response to that redemption (Rev. 7:13,14; 22:14
Gk.). God giving believers white robes after their death can surely only
be understood as His remembrance of how in their lives they had put on
those robes. But His view of time is different, and He sees them as doing
it again and again, as He considers how they had died for His cause and
how thereby He will surely raise them. This is just as we would relive in
our own minds the baptism of one of our children who has died. We know of
course that there is no immortal soul, and that we personally feel nothing
in death. But there is an immortal spirit, in that who we essentially are,
our personality, lives on in the memory of a loving Father.
6:10 And
they cried with a great voice, saying: How long, O Master, the holy and
true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?-
Just as the Lord cried with a loud voice at His death (Mt. 27:46,50; Lk.
23:46). The suffering and even death experienced by the faithful during
the tribulation will identify them with the crucifixion sufferings of
their Lord. In Revelation, it is usually an Angel who ‘cries with a loud
voice’ (Rev. 5:2,12; 7:2,10; 8:13; 10:3; 11:12,15; 12:10; 14:2,7,9,15;
16:1,17; 18:2; 19:17- a very considerable theme). We have here another
example of Revelation’s theme that the believers on earth have their
position reflected in Heaven, by Angels in the court of Heaven. Their
representative Angels loudly proclaimed to the court of Heaven the
injustice done. It was not so much they themselves who cried out, seeing
that death is unconsciousness, but the witness of their lives [their
‘soul’, the ‘blood’] represented by their Angels before the throne of God
in Heaven.
Rev. 6:10;
13:15; 14:9 describe the persecuted Christian remnant of the last days in
the language of Daniel. The conclusion is that they (we?) will find
strength to endure through the understanding of prophecy. Daniel's spirit
of "How long...?" is so exactly reflective of the attitude of all God's
children down the years that it is hard to deny that Daniel is being
framed as the representative of all the saints. Indeed, these very words
are quoted in Rev. 6:10 concerning the attitude of the slain saints of the
last days.
"How long, O
Lord" is clearly alluding to Is. 6:11-13: “Lord, how long? He answered,
Until the cities are waste without inhabitant and houses without man and
the land becomes utterly waste, and Yahweh has removed men far away, and
the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. If there is a tenth
left in it, that also will in turn be consumed: as a terebinth, and as an
oak, whose stump remains when they are felled; so the holy seed is its
stump”. The context is the same- an utter desolation of the land by an
‘Assyrian’ invader, resulting in the repentance of the remnant. This is
the context of many other ‘How long?’ laments in the prophets- the answer
is ‘Until Israel repent!’ (Jer. 4:14 “Jerusalem, wash your heart from
wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge
within you?”; 4:21; 12:4; 23:26; 31:22 “How long will you go here and
there, you backsliding daughter?”; Hos. 8:5 “How long will it be until
they are capable of purity?”; Hab. 1:2). Particularly relevant is Zech.
1:12: “How long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of
Judah”. The significance is in the fact that the vision of four coloured
horsemen is based upon Zechariah 1, and so the “how long?’ theme continues
the allusion. Again we note that the territory in view is Jerusalem and
the land promised to Abraham. The answer of Dan. 12:6,7 to the question is
more precise; effectively it is the same as the answers which said ‘How
long? Until Israel repent!’: “How long shall it be to the end of these
wonders? I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the
river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and
swore by Him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a
half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of
the holy people, all these things shall be finished”. Daniel’s answer to
‘How long?’ appears to be ‘Until the three and a half year period is
finished, and God’s people have been thoroughly broken in pieces’. For it
seems it is only then that the necessary repentance will occur. Those
interested in trying to work out a chronology of events might take note
that these particular believers must be killed earlier in the tribulation
period. The cry ‘How long until justice?’ is answered by the news that
three and a half years tribulation must pass, and more must yet be killed.
The “holy
and true” Lord is defined earlier in Rev. 3:7 as the Lord Jesus. This is
not the usual Greek word translated “Lord’. We have to think long and hard
as to why a word with such negative connotation as despotes should
be used about the Lord Jesus. Why not the more natural kurios? I
suggest that the more tyrannical and draconian despotes is used
exactly because a despot, the antichrist, is then reigning over the land,
and has caused the death of these believers. But for them, their
despotes, their Lord, is not him, but the true Christ. Hence they
address Him as the “holy and true” despotes- hinting that there is
a false one, one that is not holy, to whom they have refused
allegiance.
"Do You not
judge" perhaps needs the emphasis placed on ‘You’, seeing they have been
judged by some human court and punished with death; see on 6:9 Their
testimony. The same words for "avenge our blood" are found in Rev.
19:2- the blood of God’s servants is avenged at the hands of the “great
whore”. The horse riders of the seals are therefore part of the beast
system dominated by the whore. The avenging of Israel’s blood will be by
God’s “sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates” in the
latter day of Yahweh’s vengeance, the day of the Lord of Hosts (Jer.
46:10). This suggests again that the shedders of Israel’s blood are those
from the north country, Babylon / Assyria, who come from the Euphrates.
And this is the current source of jihadist Islam.
Their call
for vengeance means ‘Avenge our blood on those men who shed it’. To
describe those men as ‘earth dwellers’ seems somehow redundant and rather
too obviously self-evident- unless there is some particular significance
to being an earth dweller. We need to understand the ‘earth’ here as
specifically the land promised to Abraham, and not the whole planet. The
significance of the murderers as being ‘land dwellers’ is perhaps because
these people have come over the Euphrates, the northern border of the land
promised to Abraham, and they are invaders now dwelling in the land. The
other NT references to dwelling in the earth / land are specifically about
dwelling in the land promised to Abraham; Abraham moved into the land of
Canaan, in which land the Israelites now dwelt (Acts 7:4); Abraham dwelt
in the land of promise (Heb. 11:9). The earth / land dwellers are singled
out for particular judgment because of how they have persecuted God’s
people (Rev. 8:13; 11:10; 12:12). It’s as if being an earth dweller is a
cause for judgment; this is far more understandable if we understand the
term to refer to neighbouring invaders who are now dwelling in the land
promised to Abraham in the last days. The earth dwellers are those who
worship the beast and give power to him (Rev. 13:8,12,14; 17:2). The
domain of the beast is the ‘earth’ or land promised to Abraham, seeing it
is based upon the fourth beast of Daniel 7, whom we have demonstrated to
have this specific dominion. Rev. 14:6 draws a distinction between the
earth dwellers and every nation, tongue and tribe- which would lend
support to our definition of them as the invaders who now dwell in the
land promised to Abraham in the last days.
Ez. 32:30,
Rev. 6:10 and some other passages give the impression that the dead are
somehow alive. And yet we know from an impregnable array of Bible passages
that the dead are unconscious. These 'difficult passages' are surely
giving us a window on God's timeless perspective. Apart from the death
state, there are other examples of where future things are spoken of as
having already happened (e.g. Ez. 39:29). God's future actions are simply
spoken of as having already happened (e.g. Ez. 32:18). Living believers
are called "martyrs" even before they are killed, because God foresees
that they will be killed (Rev. 11:7).
6:11- see on Mk. 13:13.
And each one
was given a white robe, and they were told that they should wait a little
longer-
The gift of the white robe is in response to their cry for
justice. And they are comforted that venegeance will come in a "little"
time; and they are given white robes, the sign of acceptance at the
wedding banquet. He that overcomes is given a white robe (Rev. 3:4,5). But
it is given on their death. The whole judgment process is a metaphor, and
it is for our benefit. The "judge" has already decided the outcome on a
man's death. White is also the colour Revelation uses for victory, and
Roman generals wore white robes after victory. From Heaven's perspective,
they have 'won'. The empire had in fact lost; and through their death, the
martyrs were in fact the victors. The desire for vengeance is therefore
'only' a desire to see the victory manifest on earth openly. It is the
deep sense of our own personal salvation, by utter grace, which is to be
the comfort that God will finally judge this world, and justice will be
given. But we are reminded that justice will be given by being reminded of
our own salvation- by grace. And that tempers our desire for justice and
vengeance. For we ourselves were saved by grace alone. The desire for
vengeance is natural to us all. But we are not to judge, but to leave
judgment to God. And we are assured here that the coming of His Son in
judgment is going to meet all those human needs for recognition and
vengeance; and therefore, we will not in fact meet those needs by trying
to take things into our own hands in this life.
Those who
come through the great tribulation of the last days are clothed in the
same way (Rev. 7:9,13,14), and this tribulation is clearly that which the
Lord in the Olivet prophecy predicted for the last days immediately prior
to His coming. Revelation aims to give us Heaven's perspective on events
on earth; the martyred believers are counted as being clothed in white
robes, they are assured of salvation. This is an interesting parody of the
belief of Islamic jihadists, that their martyrdom will assure them of
salvation. This will in fact be the case for those whom they kill. It is
Angels who are presented as clothed in white robes (Mt. 28:3; Mk. 16:5;
Jn. 20:12; Acts 1:10; Rev. 4:4). Again we see how the martyred believers
have representative Angels whose clothing is as theirs will be finally.
The promised reward of white robes is also for those who "overcome"
whatever they must pass through in their generation (Rev. 3:4,5,18). Our
sufferings are in that sense no less than the terrible persecution unto
death which is in view here in Rev. 6 and 7 for the latter day believers
in the land promised to Abraham. The Lord is intensely aware of the
suffering and death of every individual believer in Him; hence "Unto every
one of them...".
The same word for "rest" is used in Rev. 14:13 about those blessed ones
who die in the very last days before the Lord's coming, during the great
tribulation: ""Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from
now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their
labours, for their deeds follow them!"". The "little season" is the very
same term used in Rev. 20:3 of the "little season" during which the dragon
is let loose on earth after his 'death' in the bottomless pit and he has
recovered from his deadly wound. This connection strengthens the
suggestion that Rev. 20:3 speaks of events at the time of the
establishment of the ‘1000 years’, and not at their end [AV "fulfilled"
can be translated 'established']. The 'season', Gk. chronos,
"time", is perhaps part of the time, times and half a time of the
tribulation period of Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 12:14.
Until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be
killed as they had been, was completed- Note the AV makes a mess of
translating this. The significance of "every one of them" is that God is
working to a precise number. Paul speaks of how the full number of the
Gentiles must come in (Rom. 11:25). God is working to an exact number, and
this is why the calendar date of the Lord's return and the outworking of
these prophetic possibilities is to some extent open ended. The sooner
that number come in, the sooner the number to be slain are slain, then He
will come. "Killed" doesn't have to mean that this passage only
refers to those martyred in violent death. The idea is rather of
sacrifice, that the life of every believer is poured out as an offering to
God; we are all living sacrifices, and our death is the final outpouring
of our blood, to flow to the bottom of the altar. There were runnels on
the altar to enable this to happen. In this sense, the blood of the
believers is associated with the altar, which represents the Lord Jesus
(Heb. 13:10 "We have an altar...").
Note how the work of preaching is paralleled with the
experience of suffering for that latter day witness which makes the
converts. The full number of Gentile converts will be reached when the
full number of preachers have died. We can expect there to be conversions
to Christ despite the obvious risk of death for making that conversion.
That is what happened in the first century, and that is the power of the
Gospel. The Gospel must be preached for a witness to all nations, and the
end shall come (Mt. 24:14). But marturion, “witness”, can simply be
a legal term referring to testimony or witness in a prosecution; through
the Islamic 'trials' of those who refuse to convert, the Gospel will be
spread by the witness of those who are slain for their testimony and
refusal to convert to Islam. The "times of the Gentiles" (Lk. 21:24)
appear to refer to the time of Gentile domination of Jerusalem, and yet it
is reapplied to refer to the time of Gentile opportunity to learn the
Gospel, according to how Paul alludes to it in Rom. 11:25.
"Fellowservants" suggests those who serve the same Master, the Lord Jesus.
The difference between fellowservants and brothers may be intentional.
Perhaps the group in view are Jewish Christians of the last days; their
fellowservants are their fellow Christian believers, and their brothers
may refer to other Jews. Of course the two terms may be used in simple
parallelism, referring to the same group. Another insight is that
"fellowservant and brother" is only elsewhere used in Revelation about the
Angels (Rev. 19:10; 22:9). There must be some purpose in this. Perhaps the
hint again is that these slain believers have their representative Angels
in the court of Heaven. Their agony and crisis, just as for all of us, is
intensely recognized and portrayed in Heaven. This is why there is an
Angelic voice in Heaven rejoicing that the false accuser "of our
brothers" has been cast down (Rev. 12:10). The Angels see us their charges
on earth as their brothers. Truly man is not alone, beyond the steely
silence of the skies there is huge Angelic activity and support for all
our witness for His sake. Note how in 19:10 the brothers have the
testimony of Jesus; in 22:9 the brothers are the prophets. A prophet is
strictly one who speaks forth God's word, not necessarily a predicter of
the future. The prophets in the new Israel therefore are the preachers,
the forth tellers, of God's word. The view of Judaism was that the
prophets were a category of white faced saints somehow of an altogether
higher category than ordinary members of God's people. But the Lord Jesus
created a new Israel in which all His people were preachers, and thus all
are prophets.
The sixth
seal concludes with the great day of the Lamb coming, with the fig tree
casting her immature figs (cp. the fig tree parable), and great changes in
Heaven and earth. This must have some reference to the second coming. If
it does not, then where is the principle of interpreting Scripture by
Scripture? This sixth seal appears to be an extension of the fifth seal,
where persecuted believers plead for vengeance to be shown against their
persecutors. They are assured of their salvation (by being given white
robes), and rest "for a little season, until their fellowservants also and
their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled"
(6:11). Once these brethren were killed, the Lord would take vengeance- by
His second coming. It follows that this violent persecution of brethren is
going on before the second coming. Perhaps the "little season" refers to
the three-and-a-half-year period? The persecuted souls under the altar
would then describe the early sufferers in the persecution. It should be
noted that once a set number of believers have been slain, then the Lord
will come (Rev. 6:11 Gk. and modern versions). This must mean that there
will be violent slaying of believers going on right up until the Lord’s
return (so the Greek for “killed” implies); which suggests that we have
yet to see violent persecution before the second coming.
A further
indication that the fifth seal concerns the last days is in the obvious
connection between the altar scene and the parable of the widow crying for
vengeance on her persecuting adversary; she would be avenged "when the Son
of man comes" (Lk. 18:3,5). Thus the intense prayers of the persecuted
saints of the last days are what prompt the second coming; at least, this
is how God wishes us to see it. If our prayers were that fervent now,
perhaps the tribulation could be avoided. Revelation 7 then describes how
the 144,000 are sealed to ultimately survive the persecution, and due to
the accumulated intense prayer of the persecuted believers, the seventh
seal of judgment is poured out on the world (8:3,4), resulting finally in
the establishment of the Kingdom.
After their
death, those who had already died are spoken of as being given “white
robes” and being told to rest a bit longer (Rev. 6:11). Yet the white robe
is given at baptism; a man may cast off Christ, but the prodigal is given
again the robe if he returns (Lk. 15:22 s.w.); we are given white robes in
this life through our acceptance of the blood of Christ and living in
response to that redemption (Rev. 7:13,14; 22:14 Gk.). God giving
believers white robes after their death can surely only be understood as
His remembrance of how in their lives they had put on those robes. But His
view of time is different, and He sees them as doing it again and again,
as He considers how they had died for His cause and how thereby He will
surely raise them. This is just as we would relive in our own minds the
baptism of a child who has died. We know of course that there is no
immortal soul, and that we personally feel nothing in death. But there is
an immortal spirit, in that who we essentially are, our personality, lives
on in the memory of a loving Father.
6:12 And
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake, the
sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon turned
the colour of blood- This along with the sun becoming dark recalls the
Lord's crucifixion, and is another reason to think that the sufferings of
the believers in the tribulation lead them to a close identity with His
sufferings, that they might share in His resurrection. And that principle
in fact works out in all our sufferings, in whatever generation and
context we live in. Mt. 24:7 says that there will be a number of
earthquakes in the last days. And it may be that the various earthquakes
recorded in Revelation are not all referring to the same earthquake. Zech.
14:5 associates an earthquake with the coming of Christ after Jerusalem
has fallen to her latter day enemies. The seals appear to refer to the
sufferings experienced by God's people (both natural and spiritual) in the
land promised to Abraham; just as the horses of Zechariah 1 speak of the
judgments upon the land, and then the horses of Zechariah 6 speak of the
judgments upon those nations. The seven vials and the various judgments
upon the beast system include similar language, but appear to refer to the
Divine judgments upon the persecutors of His people. These judgments will
be similar to those they meted out to Israel, according to the principle
that the beast system is tormented with the same things they brought upon
their victims (Rev. 18:7), being made to drink the same cup she gave
others (Rev. 18:6). The earthquake of Rev. 6:12 is matched by the
earthquakes of judgment upon Israel's persecutors in Rev. 11:13,19; 16:18.
"The sun became... black" is a clear example of the language of the Olivet
prophecy about the last days being developed in Revelation. The allusion
is to Mt. 24:29: "During [Gk. meta, AV "after"] the tribulation of
those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her
light". We are clearly being pointed to a distinctly latter day
interpretation. Whatever application this had in the first century (Acts
2:20), the final and main fulfilment is in our last days. The first
century fulfilment may have included a literal element in the events of
AD70 and the Lord's crucifixion, and so it may also be in the last days.
But sun, moon and stars are introduced to us in Joseph's dream as symbols
of Israel. We have here for sure a prediction of the total destruction of
the Jewish system. It may be that initially a third part of the sun and
moon are darkened (Rev. 8:12)- which suggests a literal darkening is not
primarily in view. Rev. 9:2 says that the sun is darkened as a result of
the beast system arising from the bottomless pit, the deadly wound healed
and the vicious revival of the beast system [after an initial Western
destruction of them?]. The sun being darkened and the moon turning into
blood is the sign that the day of the Lord is about to come (Joel
2:31,32). We are to understand this event as happening immediately prior
to the Lord’s coming.
"Black as sackcloth of hair, the moon became as blood" are terms hard to
interpret. Hair sackcloth would suggest mourning; but why would the sun
mourn in this context? And why would the moon become blood? What really
could that mean in terms of symbology? I see no very credible explanation
in terms of symbology. But I came across online Special Paper 186
[1981] of the Geological Society of America, by Troy Pewe: Desert Dust:
Origin, Characteristics and Effect on Man . In this very technical
article, the author makes the throwaway comment that the words “Black as
sackcloth of hair, the moon became as blood” are a superb description of
an approaching dust storm coming out of the desert. The Americans called
their 1991 military operation in Iraq ‘Desert Storm’. The picture is of an
army coming out of the desert; and this is exactly relevant to the
invasion of Israel by the hordes who burst across the Euphrates and move
across the desert to engulf God’s land and people.
6:13 And the stars of the heaven fell to the earth- This would
continue the usage of sun, moon and stars as in Joseph’s dream- as symbols
of the Jewish system (Gen. 37:9; Dt. 1:10). The sons of Jacob, the stars,
will fall into the earth, losing their power and station. This is a direct
quotation of the Lord’s words about the situation in Israel and Jerusalem
specifically in the very last days (Mt. 24:29). We note that the King of
Babylon sought to exalt himself above the stars (Is. 14:13)- the Jews in
Jerusalem. The connection may imply that the latter day king of Babylon is
briefly successful in this, and those stars fall. The latter day little
horn, the antichrist, succeeds in dominating God’s people and casting them
down like stars to the ground, and stamping upon them (Dan. 8:10). This is
the basis for the Lord’s prediction that Jerusalem shall be trodden down,
stamped upon, by the Gentiles. We note the repeated focus upon the fate of
Jerusalem and its inhabitants.
As a fig
tree casts her unripe figs when she is shaken by a great wind- The fig
tree and fruit on it is a Biblical picture of Israel’s spiritual state.
The “winter fruit” or “unripe fruit” refers to fruit that came covered in
leaves in the Summer, but never turned ripe. It therefore remained until
the Winter, and the strong Winter wind blew it off the tree. The reference
is clear- Israel had time to produce spiritual fruit, but they didn’t; and
so the falling of their stars to earth is precisely because they had not
brought forth spiritual fruit. The falling of the figs is parallel with
the falling of the stars. The same word for "shaken" is used of the
shaking of the Jewish heaven and earth / system in Heb. 12:26. The "mighty
wind" continues the allusion to a desert dust storm which has caused the
moon to look like blood (see on 6:12). The wind is representative of both
an Angel and also an army. Recall how the four winds / Angels blow on the
sea to cause the beasts to arise in Dan. 7. The mighty wind of the
invaders is Angelically directed by God. The day of judgment at Christ’s
coming is likened to a mighty wind in Mt. 7:25,27. This mighty wind is to
be connected with the four winds we will soon encounter in Rev. 7:1, which
will blow upon the earth / land in judgment but will not affect the
sealed, righteous remnant. The strong wind blows away the unripe fruit. It
could be that the singular mighty wind prepares the way for the four winds
of chapter 7, replete as they are with connection with the four winds of
Daniel 7 which cause the beasts to arise in domination of the land.
6:14 And
the sky was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up- Remember this is
all in the context of the scroll being opened by the lamb. For that book
to be opened, the scroll / heaven [NEV "sky"] of political Israel has to
be closed and removed for ever. The Old Testament passage in view here in
this section is clearly Is. 34:4-8. This however speaks of God's final
judgment of Edom, which is Esau (Gen. 36:1,8). Revelation 6 is talking
about judgments against Israel; but the point is that what latter day Esau
/ Edom does to Jacob will be done to them: “All of the army of the sky
will be dissolved, the sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its
armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. For
My sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom
and on the people of My curse for judgement. Yahweh’s sword is filled with
blood, it is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the
fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a
great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen will come down
with them and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will
be drunken with blood and their dust made greasy with fat. For
Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of
Zion”.
And every
mountain and island were moved out of their places- In the first century application, the
removal of every mountain would refer to the Roman legions flattening the
approach roads: "[Vespasian] sent both footmen and horsemen to level the
road, which was mountainous and rocky" (Josephus, Wars of the Jews
3.7.3). Having outlined the mountainous setting of Jotapata, Josephus says
that Vespasian decided "to raise a bank against that part of the wall
which was practicable" (Wars 3.7.8).
I mentioned
in notes at the beginning of Revelation 6 that the things done to Israel /
the land during the seals are then repeated to Israel’s abusers during the
trumpets and vial judgments. The cup they made her drink must be drunk by
them. And in keeping with this, the same ideas are found in Rev. 16:20-
when Babylon falls, “every island fled away, and the mountains were not
found”. However, the repetition of the terms shows that literal islands
and mountains are not in view- they cannot totally disappear twice. The
supporters of Israel, the powers represented by mountains and islands,
those who seemed so stable and eternally fixed in their place, will
remove; just as the figurative mountains and islands supportive of Babylon
will likewise. I have explained elsewhere that the West must fall or be
rendered ineffective.
The final tribulation of Israel will be at the same time as the Elijah
ministry; and the intention is to bring down the mountains, making a
smooth way for the second coming of the Lord Jesus (Is. 40:4; Lk. 3:5).
These judgments, involving mountains moving, are all part of that
preparatory process.
6:15 And
the kings of the earth, the princes, the chief captains, the rich, the
strong and every slave and freeman- The kings of the land are parallel
with the stars who fall from the sky, the heavens and earth who are rolled
up. The leading lights of the Jewish system are the kings of the land. The
kings of the land are described later in Revelation as facing judgment for
their support of the beast against Israel. The current Jewish rulers of
the land are to be replaced, therefore, by a new set of rulers of the
land; who will be punished with the same judgment they meted out to the
rulers whom they overthrew. The “princes” (AV “great men”) translates the
same Greek word found in Rev. 18:23 about how the great men of the earth
supported Babylon but would now be judged. Indeed, the terms used here in
6:15 are elsewhere found about those who will be judged in the land for
having supported Babylon. The Jewish mighty ones, the stars and heavens,
will be replaced, however briefly, by those of the Babylon / beast system.
Likewise “chief captains” is found again in Rev. 19:18. The wide range of
people listed here in 6:15 stretch right across society; and similar words
are used about the entire range who accept the mark of the beast (Rev.
13:16) and follow the beast (Rev. 19:18). Jewish society in the Israel of
today is to be replaced by that of their invaders and the system of the
beast.
Hid
themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains- This hugging of the earth is a result
of the stars and unripe figs falling to the earth (:13). The kings of the
land are thus connected with the stars and unripe figs- representative of
Israel’s unspiritual leadership. The allusion is to Is. 2:19-21, which was
initially addressed to the proud Jews who were in Jerusalem just prior to
the Assyrian invasion. They are the prototypes of arrogant, self-assured
Israel in the land today: “Men shall go into the caves of the rocks and
into the holes of the earth from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the
glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. In that
day men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold
which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the
bats; to go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the
ragged rocks, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His
majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily”. But Isaiah 2 speaks
of this hiding in the rocks as part of the preparatory process for the
establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, on the tops of the very
mountains where men only recently had been hiding themselves (Is. 2:2-4).
Yet again, we are dealing with last days language, and also specifically
about the situation in and around Jerusalem.
The hiding
in caves from the face of the Lamb recalls the desire of those in
Jerusalem living just before the Babylonian invasion: they wanted to hide
themselves from the Lord’s presence (Jer. 23:24). Likewise the Jews of
Amos 9:3 sought to hide themselves in the mountains of Carmel. The idea of
hiding from the Lamb very much suggests the kings of the land in view are
Jewish rulers of Israel. The Lamb’s wrath was being manifested through the
events of the seals, and the Jewish leadership desperately seek to hide
from it.
Living in the caves and mountains recalls the behaviour of the faithful in
Heb. 11:38. Perhaps that connection is purposeful, to hint that through
all this suffering, a minority will come to faith in Christ and
repentance.
In the first
century fulfilment, the ideas of hiding in caves, wishing the rocks to
fall on them etc. refers to how the Jews hid underground in the 67-70 war.
"On the following days [the Romans] searched the hiding places, and fell
upon those that were underground and in the caverns" (Josephus, Wars of
the Jews 3.7.36). The Lord had told the women who watched His death
that they would ask the mountains and hills to fall upon them to cover
them (Lk. 23:29,30 cp. Mt. 24:1,2,19,34).
6:16 And
they said to the mountains and to the rocks: Fall on us- This again is
a quotation from the Lord's words about the judgment to come upon Israel
because of their crucifixion of Him (Lk. 23:30). It is also a quotation
from Hos. 10:8, when because of "the sin of Israel... they shall say to
the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us". My point is that
these passages are all talking specifically about Israelites; the kings /
rulers of the land of the sixth seal are Jews in the last days within an
Israel that is to be crushed amidst unspeakable abuse and atrocity, as the
pent up Moslem and Arab wrath of centuries explodes upon them. The Hosea
passage in its context speaks of Israel lamenting that they have no human
leaders any more (Hos. 10:3,7) and how "the nations shall be gathered
against them" (Hos. 10:10). This is precisely the message of the sixth
seal- the heavens / stars of the Jewish system fall, sun and moon no
longer shine, and all nations are gathered together against Jerusalem at
Armageddon.
And hide us
from the presence of Him that sits on the throne, and from the anger of
the Lamb- There are
multiple Old Testament statements that in the final time of Israel’s
sufferings, God will hide His face from them (e.g. Dt. 31:17,18; 32:20;
Ez. 39:29; Mic. 3:4). This is from their perspective- the reality is,
according to this insight here, that Israel themselves seek to hide from
His face [NEV "presence"]. If the reference is to God enthroned in Heaven,
this fear seems rather misplaced. Would sinful men experiencing judgment
really feel they were in the presence of the throne of God in Heaven, and
wish to run away from the one enthroned? The reference is more
appropriately understood in a futuristic sense. In some sense, Jesus is
now visibly enthroned, on the throne of David in Jerusalem, and the sinful
Jews slink away from His throne, just as the rejected are pictured doing
in 1 Jn. 2:28 Gk.. Rev. 4:2,9 have introduced the Lord Jesus as enthroned
at His return. These sinful Jewish leaders have some sense of this,
and wish to slink away from His presence in rejection. These people seek
to be hid from the face / presence of the wrathful Lamb, but in 14:10 we
read of how some will be tormented in the presence / before the face of
the Lamb. Their desire to escape His judgment doesn’t come to anything.
Note the
juxtaposition of ideas in 'the wrath of the lamb'. It is not simply that
the Lord died as a lamb but returns as a rampant lion. He will have both
lion and lamb aspects at His return. God's character is not just partly
severe, partly gracious. His grace and His judgment of sin are wonderfully
interconnected within His character. Thus destruction comes from Shaddai,
the fruitful, blessing one (Is. 13:6); and the meek, harmless Lamb has
great wrath (Rev. 6:16,17).
Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today and forever. Who He was then, as He walked
around Palestine 2000 years ago, the lamb for sinners slain, is who He
will essentially be at His second coming and judgment. It’s not quite so
that He was once a meek lamb but will roar back as an angry aggressive
lion of Judah. Revelation brings out the paradox of “the wrath of the
lamb”- not the roaring lion. Even in condemning men, His basic passion
for humanity, His pain for the lost, comes out. Thus He will call those
whom He rejects “Friend”, just as He addressed even Judas, a man not fit
to breathe the same air as He did. And in any case, it was in His role as
the lion of Judah that He opened the seals through His death, not at His
return. In His mortality He was the one who served rather than the one who
sat at meat; and when He returns He will again come forth and serve us,
His Divine nature notwithstanding. He so earnestly desired that even the
wicked children of Jerusalem who did Him to death should be gathered
together into His Kingdom. As He was, so He will be, and so He is even
now.
6:17 For
the great day of their anger comes, and who is able to stand?- The
situation clearly refers to the last day. The Old Testament ‘day of wrath’
is usually against Israel and her leaders; and these are in view here, the
kings of the land. The Babylonian invasion was the day of wrath (Dt.
29:28; Jer. 32:31; 44:6; Lam. 1:12; 2:1.21.22; Zeph. 2:2,3). The same word
translated “wrath” is used by the Lord in the Olivet Prophecy concerning
how there shall be “wrath upon this people”. The people of Israel are
therefore those who suffer under the sixth seal. “The great day” is Joel’s
“great and notable day of the Lord”, the second coming. Jude 6 uses the
very expression in talking about “the judgment of the great day”, “the
great day of God Almighty” of Rev. 16:14.
"And who
shall be able to stand?" alludes to Mal. 3:1-3 concerning the coming of
the latter day Elijah prophet to Israel: “Behold, I send My messenger, and
he will prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will
suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you
desire, behold, He comes! says Yahweh of Armies. But who can endure the
day of His coming? And who will stand when He appears? For He is
like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap; and He will sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, and
refine them as gold and silver”. At the time of the sixth seal, Elijah (or
the Elijah ministry) will be active in Israel amongst Jewish people. Those
who do not respond to this ministry will be unable to stand before the
Lord.
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