Revelation 6

Revelation 6:1

In chapter 6, we continue in the third and final section of the divine outline given in chapter 1 verse Rev_1:19, when John was instructed to write the things that he had seen, the things that are, and the things that shall be hereafter. Chapters 6 through 19 describe the seven-year period of the Tribulationresult of the rebellion and sin of mankind. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee…Jer_2:17-19 (a) To the people of Jeremiah’s day, to those who rebelled against the Lord and found themselves threatened by external enemies and internal problems, the Lord said, “It’s not that I will punish you. Rather, it will be your own sin that will come back to bite you.” So, too, the world has declared corporately, “We will not allow this Man to rule us (Joh_18:40). We want to do our own thing. We want to call our own shots. We want to live our own life.” And in response, God says, “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (see Gal_6:7). Our sin will track us down, gang. Which sins? Every sinevery white lie, every questionable late night TV show, every bit of fudging on our income tax. Yes, if we have confessed them, they have all been forgiven and forgotten. But whatever sin in which a man indulges will track him down like a hound dog until it eventually catches up with and bites into him. There is no exception. I don’t know how old a man has to get or how much he has to go through before he finally realizes God’s Word is right. “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num_32:23). There is no exception. None. Chapter 6 is the account of mankind’s sin coming back to bite himfor although Jesus is reclaiming the title deed to earth, sin still brings repercussions, still exacts a price.

Revelation 6:2

In chapter 19, we will see a Man on a white horse, who is clearly the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. But we know by the company he keeps that the man on the white horse here in chapter 6 is not Jesus… The word “bow” tends to conjure up an image of a bow and arrow. But I’m not sure that’s correct. The first time a bow is mentioned in the Bible, it refers to a rainbowthe token of God’s promise that He would not destroy the world with a flood (Gen_9:13). Now think with me: Right after the church is raptured, Daniel says a man will come, making a covenant with Israela seven-year peace treaty. And the whole world will say, “Hooray! At last someone has solved the problem of Jerusalem. There’s peace between the Israeli and the Palestinian, between the Arab and the Jew.” Thus, this bow could be the same type God displayed to Noaha rainbow. The Greek word translated “crown” is stephanos. A diadem is a permanent crown. A stephanos, on the other hand, is a wreath made of olive branches that only lasts a short while. How will this one riding a white horse, carrying a bow, and wearing a crown of olive branches conquer? As a peacemaker (Dan_8:23-25). Isn’t this exactly what Jesus prophesied when He proclaimed, “I come in My Father’s name, and you receive me not. But another will come in his own name, and him you shall receive” (see Joh_5:43)? How did Jesus come? Meekly riding on a donkey. What did the world say? “We will not have this Man rule over us.” So who will the world get instead? Antichrist. And look who Antichrist brings with him…

Revelation 6:3

The red horse following the white horse of Antichrist is war. Anyone who thinks there can be true political solutions to the world’s problems is sadly mistaken. Politics is solely about gaining and maintaining power. “From whence come wars and fightings?” James asks. “Come they not even from your own lusts?“from wanting power, wanting property (see Jas_4:1-2). Truly, any man who thinks he can bring about peace politically, or any church that looks to the government for a solution to our country’s problems will be disappointed. Power always brings war. And war is always disguised to look acceptable. I think of the recent Gulf War. It was covered in patriotism and heroism, with the waving of the flag, the singing of the song, the colorful parade. The ugliness and hellishness of war is so heavily disguised that people begin to think war is acceptable, justifiable, okaybut it’s not. Jesus refused to be pulled into politics when the multitude wanted to make Him king (Joh_6:15). And when Peter unsheathed the sword to fight a “righteous war,” He said, “Put it away. That’s not My way” (Mat_26:52).

Revelation 6:5

As we shall see, the black horse symbolizes faminewith reference to an imbalance in nature as well as physical famine. We’re out of balance, gang. People work at machines that pollute the air to purchase machines that travel at lethal speeds over blacktop so they can come home to sit before high-priced boxes that flicker images telling them what to buy. Then they get up the next morning to repeat the processall the while living in a state of spiritual famine. “A measure of wheat for a penny” means that the time of the Tribulation will be so economically oppressive that the masses will exist on rations. A full day’s wage will only buy a little wheat or barley because of Antichrist’s system that is based on the mark of the beast. Biblically, oil and wine symbolize luxury. You see, the wealthy of the world somehow continue to get wealthier even in times of war and famine. Alfred Nobel, of the Peace Prize fame, made his fortune manufacturing explosives. When his father, also named Alfred, died, an obituary mistaking father for son stated that “he was a rich industrialist who made his fortune in war.” “This is my legacy?” asked a horrified Nobel. And from that day on, he set apart a substantial sum of money to fund prizes for peace and science, medicine and literature. Nobel is the rare exception, for the famine that follows war never seems to affect the oil and wine of the wealthy.

Revelation 6:7

Chloros, the Greek word translated “pale,” is the same word from which we get the word “chlorine"or bleachedand “chlorophyll"or green. In other words, this horse is really ugly. The phrase translated “beasts of the earth” is therion in Greek. Therion does not mean gigantic or monstrous. It means something frightful of any sizeeven, I suggest, microscopic, as are the HIV and e-coli viruses. Each of the three preceding horsemen appeared in disguise. Deception appeared as a peacemaker on a white horse; war as patriotism on a red horse; famine as luxury on a black horse. And this fourth horseman is no exception, for what does it say about a culture like ours whose number one industry is health care? “We’re so advanced!” we think. No, we’re sick!

Revelation 6:9

Things are going badly. The bow of the horseman on the white horse is broken. Blood flows. Famine follows. Disease and sickness run rampant. So who does the world blame? The believers who come to Christ during the Tribulation. This is not new. In the days of the Black Plague, one of every four people died. The one group of people spared was the Jews. Today, we know it is because they were simply following the biblical principles of hygiene. But their contemporaries, convinced the Jews were the reason for the plague, persecuted them. The same will be true in the Tribulation. Amid sickness and blood, economic disharmony and warbelievers will be martyred. And this is where the Lord seems to intervene.

Revelation 6:12

There’s a cataclysmic, catastrophic shaking going on. Why? Some suggest this describes a nuclear winterthe result of a nuclear exchange in which the sun would be darkened, the stars would fall, and the tectonic plates would shift. But I suggest the shaking and quaking is the result of God Himself getting involved when He sees His kids being attacked.

Revelation 6:14

Isa_42:5 says that God stretched out the heavens. Isa_34:4 says the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll. Skeptics laughed at this for yearsuntil now. Recent findings not only verify that the universe is indeed expanding, but quantum physics and the findings of the Hubbell spacecraft verify that the universe is indeed curved, or scroll-like in shape.

Revelation 6:15

Refusing to call on the Rock of Ages, men have no other choice but to cry to the rocks of the earth. There are those who say the wrath of the Lamb, the real Tribulation, does not happen until midway into this seven-year period. They believe the church is raptured immediately before Antichrist enters the temple, demanding to be worshiped as God. Adherents to this view, called the Mid-Tribulation or Pre-Wrath Rapture, would do well to read Revelation 6 more carefully, because verse Rev_6:16 makes it clear that the wrath of the Lamb occurs at the beginning of the Tribulation, not halfway through. “Pray you may be found worthy to escape all of these things,” Jesus taught in His Olivet Discoursenot “that you may be found worthy to escape halfway through” (see Luk_21:36). How is one found worthy? Simply by being in Christ (Jud_1:24).

Revelation 6:17

Who can stand? We can. Because God has not appointed us unto wrath, but unto salvation (1Th_5:9), we’ll be standing in heaven. But we’re not the only ones standing. In chapter 7, we’ll see three other groups who stand in the day of the wrath of the Lamb…