Revelation 6:1-17 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

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The Six Seals

The afflicted Church has been reminded in Revelation 4 f. that God is over all, and that the future is committed to the Lamb. Now (Revelation 6 - Revelation 8:1) she is shown that future, unrolling to its appointed end, i.e. the judgment of the enemies of God and the triumph of those who 'overcome.' The Lamb opens the seven seals. Apparently we are to understand that, as each seal is opened, a portion of that which is written in the book is revealed pictorially. Revelation 7 contains an episode between seals six and seven.

The first six seals. The key to this vision is the prophecy of Christ in Matthew 24:3-31. In that prophecy, Matthew 24:4-14 foretell the signs preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, Matthew 24:15-28 the destruction of Jerusalem, and Matthew 24:29-31 the signs which will precede the coming of Christ. There is the same threefold division in this c., but in place of the destruction of Jerusalem is the appeal of the martyrs to God, while the whole looks forward to the coming of Christ.

St. John had, doubtless, thought long on the prophecy recorded for us in Matthew 24. It was a natural effect of his memory that the vision should follow the lines of that prophecy; and, at the same time, our Lord saw fit to make further use of the thoughts already implanted in the Apostle's mind. The working of the same prophecy appears in the visions of the trumpets and the bowls.

1-8. Four riders are summoned, each by the word 'come' (RV omits 'and see'); cp. Zechariah 6:1., where the horses stand for the four winds, symbolising the divine judgments (Revelation 6:1).

The white horse and the crown of the first rider are symbols of victory, and for the bow cp. Psalms 45:4. The victorious progress of the gospel is perhaps represented (cp. Matthew 24:14), or, as many think, Christ: cp. Revelation 19:11; (Revelation 6:2).

The second and third riders represent war and famine respectively (Revelation 6:3-5). A 'penny' (cp. Matthew 18:28; RM) was the wages of a labourer for a day's work (cp. Matthew 20:2.); the 'measure' contained two pints. Judgment is tempered with mercy, for the wheat and the barley are not to be wholly destroyed, and the oil and the wine are to be uninjured (Revelation 6:6).

Then Death and Hell (RV 'Hades,' i.e. the 'underworld' of the dead) come to claim a fourth part, i.e. not the whole, of the ungodly, by God's four judgments of sword, famine, death (i.e. pestilence), and wild beasts: cp. Ezekiel 14:21; (Revelation 6:8).

9-11. The opening of the fifth seal reveals that the death of the martyrs is not unregarded by God. As they sacrificed their lives, they are represented as having been offered on a heavenly altar, at the foot of which their blood (or 'souls,' or 'lives': cp. Leviticus 17:11) has been poured out: cp. Exodus 29:12; (Revelation 6:9). Their blood is said to call out upon God, as Abel's did (cp. Genesis 4:10), and as every crime does, for punishment (Revelation 6:10). God is not unheeding, but the final judgment must wait till the number of the martyrs is fulfilled. Meanwhile these, having overcome (cp. Revelation 3:4.), are given robes of victory (Revelation 6:11).

Related Commentaries of Revelation 6:1

Revelation 6:1-17

1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measurea of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto themb over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs,c when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?