The sealed book of judgment is now entrusted to Christ, and God begins to “do His work, His strange work, and bring to pass His act, His strange act” (Isa. 28:2121For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (Isaiah 28:21)). From the sixth to the close of the eleventh chapter the judgments follow each other in regular order. The first series are those brought in by the opening of the seven seals; the second, those heralded by the sounding of the seven trumpets. These two series of sevenfold judgments embrace the whole cycle of time, from the taking of the Church to be with Christ down to the beginning of His reign over the earth. After detailing these, the Spirit carries the seer back to witness some parts of the great tragedy more closely, especially God’s dealings with Israel, the last phase of Gentile lawlessness, and the judgment executed on the great harlot that has committed fornication with the kings of the earth, and become drunk with the blood of saints. We shall first examine the judgments under the seven seals.
First Seal (Chapter 6:1, 2)
“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 living creatures saying, Come [and see]. 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.” One need hardly combat the thought that this rider is the Lord Jesus, and that His conquests are the triumphs of the gospel. No doubt Christ afterward comes from heaven upon a white horse (Rev. 19:1111And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11)); but a white horse only symbolizes victorious power, and, like the lion, the throne, the crown, and other emblems, is used without regard to the moral character of those with whom it is connected. Christ is called a lion, and so is the devil. God has a throne, and so has Satan. Christ has many crowns, and so has the dragon. The mere figure then of a lion, a throne, or a crown proves nothing about the nature of the one of whom it is spoken. This must be learned from the context. So with the white horse. We must ask what the surroundings show of him who sits upon it.
Looking, then, at this vision as referring to the past, how does it resemble the spread of the gospel? Where Christ afterward sits on a white horse it is in judgment. Did the gospel go forth in judgment? Were not its preachers to share Christ’s patience? And what is there of patience here? But again, this is entirely a scene of judgment. One of the living creatures representing God in creation and judgment bids the prophet come, and bids him in a voice of thunder. How unlike a summons to witness the triumphs of God’s grace! The events under the other seals are also manifestly judgments. Why then make this one seal to differ from all the rest in introducing blessing instead of judgment?
If we dismiss this strange misconception, the meaning is clear. As to the past, these six seals doubtless give a general sketch of the judgments on the earth, of the persecution of Christians, and lastly of the fall of the heathen Roman Empire. The future application is however much more important, showing that when God prepares to establish Christ’s kingdom on earth the work of judgment commences. The first scene discloses a victorious warrior going forth on his career of conquest. He is armed with a bow, indicating the rapidity and wide range of his acquisitions. A crown is given him, showing probably that he is not originally of royal descent, but obtains imperial or royal dignity by his success as a warrior after the manner of the first Napoleon. This then is nothing more than a providential scourge, not perhaps more remarkable than others with which history teems.
“And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come [and see]. 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.” The rapid success of the conqueror under the first seal is followed by a further outbreak of war. The red horse, and the great sword given to the rider, are clearly symbolic of bloodshed. Peace quits the earth. “Nation rises against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” War and slaughter on a gigantic scale are indicated by this second seal.
“And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature 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. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A measure [chœnix] of wheat for a penny [denarius], and three measures [chœnixes] of barley for a penny [denarius]; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” The black horse signifies mourning and consternation. Devastating wars have brought in famine. The “pair of balances” in the rider’s hand recalls the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar’s army: “I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment” (Ezek. 4:1616Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: (Ezekiel 4:16)). It is a figure eminently suggestive of scarcity. The prices given also imply extraordinary dearness of the commonest necessaries of life; for it is calculated that they were about eight times the rate then current. This implies extreme suffering, not indeed among the rich, whose oil and wine are yet untouched, but among the poor, who find the cost of even the coarsest food, such as barley bread, almost beyond their reach.
“And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come [and see]. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell [or Hades] followed with him. And power was given unto them [or him] over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death [or pestilence], and with the beasts of the earth.” This crowns the misery of these four preliminary judgments. Conquest, leading to bloodshed and famine, has wrought wholesale desolation and wretchedness. The pale horse, significant of haggard want and despair, has Death as its rider. Hades, the unseen world, follows in his train, as if to devour his victims, according to the vivid imagery of the prophet: “Therefore hades hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it” (Isa. 5:1414Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (Isaiah 5:14)). Death receives power over “the fourth part of the earth,” there to destroy with the “four sore judgments” of God – “the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence” (Ezek. 14:2121For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? (Ezekiel 14:21)). Lands ravaged by the sword; the wretched survivors left with wasted fields and resources to die of hunger and plague; wild beasts quitting their lairs, and prowling over the desolated country; such is a picture of the woes hanging, probably at no distant period, over this world. How blessed the portion of those who, having kept the word of Christ’s patience, will be kept from this “hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world!”
Here, then, are the first judgments. There is, so far, no obvious intervention of divine power. Man’s evil passions, which have stirred up wars and calamities in all ages, are the only instruments seen. But it is the first breath of that whirlwind of judgment which will soon sweep over the earth. Compare this with our Lord’s own words about the signs of His “coming and of the end of the age.” Addressing the disciples as representing those who will then be looking for Him, He says, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matt. 24:6-86And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6‑8)). Wars, famines, and pestilences, the contents of the first four seals are, therefore, the earlier judgments predicted by our Lord Himself, as among the signs of His coming in judgment at the end of the age. A further analogy will be found as we come to the next scene.
Fifth Seal (Rev. 6:9-119And 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: 10And 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? 11And 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. (Revelation 6:9‑11))
“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: 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? 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 fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Here, then, war, famine, and pestilence, are followed by persecution. Exactly the same thing is seen in the prophecy from which we have already quoted in Matthew. Our Lord proceeds: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all the nations [or, the Gentiles] for My name’s sake.... And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the nations” [or, Gentiles]. (Rev. 6:9, 149And 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: (Revelation 6:9)
14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (Revelation 6:14)). To what period, then, does this persecution refer, and on whom does it fall?
Granting a general reference to the martyrdom of Christians under the heathen emperors, yet the agreement of this prophecy with Matthew shows that its chief fulfillment is in the troubles preceding the coming of the Son of Man. Already, as we have seen, the redeemed of the present and of past dispensations will be in heaven. Whence then are these martyrs? They must consist of those who have the Word of God after the Church’s departure. Does the description here given answer to this?
The Revelation says that these saints “were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” This might apply either to Christianity or to the testimony of believing Jews after the Church is taken. But in Matthew the Jewish character of the testimony is clear, for our Lord says, “Ye shall be hated of all the nations (or Gentiles) for My name’s sake.” The word “the,” omitted in our translation, is important; for “the nations” is the phrase used to distinguish the Gentiles from the Jews. The Lord’s prophecy is, therefore, that the believing Jews, who proclaim His word in those days, will encounter the hatred of the Gentiles. No marvel; for while the Gentiles are striving for power, and pushing their schemes of aggrandizement, as shown in the first four judgments, the believing Jews will be proclaiming, not a gospel of grace for mankind, but “the gospel of the kingdom,” the coming of a Messiah who will subvert all earthly dominion, establish His throne in Zion, and exalt His people above all the nations of the world. What government would tolerate such preaching? What Gentile monarchy would not seek to crush the heralds of so revolutionary a faith?
This then is what will provoke the persecution. “The gospel of the kingdom” is a phrase never used of Christianity, but of the glad tidings of the Messianic kingdom, as foretold by John the Baptist and by our Lord Himself before the nation had rejected His claim. “This gospel of the kingdom” is to “be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the Gentiles,” showing that it is the proclamation of the Messiah’s kingdom to the nations of the earth.
In Luke’s gospel, where the prophecy relates to the events preceding the destruction of the temple and city by the Roman army, “the gospel of the kingdom” is not named, and the persecution described is not said to be specially from the Gentiles, but from Jews and Gentiles alike. “They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake” (Luke 21:1212But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. (Luke 21:12)). The difference is important, for it helps to show that the prophecy in Matthew relates, not to the events preceding the siege of Jerusalem, but to the woes and troubles preceding the day of the Lord, the same period as that spoken of in the book of Revelation.
The sufferers, then, under the fifth seal are slain after the Church is taken, and when God has resumed His purposes towards Israel. They have to do with a God of judgment, and cry that their blood may be avenged. How unsuitable such a prayer even in the mouths of those slain, until the time of judgment arrives. Those with Christ will surely keep the word of His patience as they did on earth. Could Stephen, who immediately before his death prayed for his murderers, cry, immediately after his death, for vengeance upon them? If not, these martyrs do not belong to the Church period, but to the period when Christ is risen up for judgment. They are of those elect whom God will speedily avenge, because they “cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them” (Luke 18:77And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? (Luke 18:7)). The Psalms are filled with their prayers: “Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the Gentiles be judged in Thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord; that the nations may know themselves to be but men” (Psa. 9:19-2019Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. (Psalm 9:19‑20)).
And again, “Break Thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness till Thou find none” (Psa. 10:1515Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. (Psalm 10:15)). This is not language for a Christian under persecution, but becomes those who are associated with Christ when the days of His patience are over, and He is acting in judgment towards the world.
White robes are given them as tokens of Christ’s approval. But they are still left as souls under the altar; not raised like the elders who are already perfected by the redemption of their bodies. There are other martyrs yet to die, and they must remain until these also have suffered.