Scroll and Seals–Martyrs and Cataclysms

Outline: Seven Seals - Martyrs and Cataclysms
Passage: Revelation 6:9-17
Discussion audio (1 hour 4 minutes)

The discussion continues in the Seven Seals. This week we look at the fifth and sixth seals, dealing with the issue of martyrs and cataclysms, respectively. Once again the primary frame of reference through which we hear Revelation is that of drama. What is being described is symbolic, a metaphor of reality, but not reality itself.

The fifth seal describes martyrs. While not entirely dismissing literal martyrs, this seal depicts the Church under pressure, oppression, and persecution throughout its history: past, present, and future.

The sixth seal describes a worldwide, cataclysmic event. The description John borrows comes from the Old Testament, where it describes the Day of the Lord, a day when God was expected to bring justice; i.e., right the wrongs that were done to his name.

Suspense builds with the sixth seal. All of the seals have been building up the concept of a judgment process being set into motion, starting with the first seal and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus. But with this sixth seal, in the way John describes it, it might appear that no one will come through the judgment. Hence the chapter ends with the question, “Who can stand?” “No one” is the presumed answer, the audience expects the seventh seal to be opened; but instead the stage darkens… What is going to happen next? The audience waits with held breath….

(Those of you following will have to wait out this cliffhanger for an extra week. No study this next week. We will return on June 23.)

Scroll and Seals–The Four Horsemen

Outline: Seven Seals - Four Horsemen
Passage: Revelation 6:1-8
Discussion audio (1 hour 18 minutes)

We now observe the opening of the first four seals on the scroll given to the Lamb. The frame of reference through which we observe is vital to how the next few chapters are interpreted. The seven letters described what was happening to the churches on earth. In this drama, the scene has now changed to heaven and the audience is given a peek into how heaven is responding. What John wants to see (and therefore wants his audience to see) is the contents of the scroll (which we have preliminarily identified as the book of life). The opening of the seals and the events described by them are of secondary concern – they are simply what has happened or must happen on the way to the revealing of the content of the scroll.

In my reading of various commentaries and notes on this passage, I observed that interpretations are all over the map. For example, the white horse and rider (the first seal) has been interpreted as from Jesus to the Antichrist and everything in-between. What is found in the outline and discussion that I provide is what I believe makes the most sense given the context of Revelation and the possible Old Testament allusions that are incorporated.

What is most important is not the details, but the overall impression that the audience receives. For the first four seals, the four horsemen, it is that of Jesus and his gospel of peace coming to the earth and the judgment that is an inevitable part of either receiving it or rejecting it. It also portrays God’s mercy in suspending, at least for a period, the full consequences of rejecting him. On the other hand, those who have accepted Jesus and his gospel have nothing to fear, not even from Death and Hades, because Jesus holds its keys.