Devotions with Dre Episode 40: Book of Revelation Part 14: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Revelation Chapter 6

Some Scholars translate "apokalypsis" (the greek word revelation) "the Disclosure" - it's an uncovering.

Professor/Dr/Pastor Adam Ayers says that apocalyptic literature "Takes the veil between the seen world and the unseen world away, so you can see the spiritual dynamics that are intertwined with the material world."

We can also keep in mind that under persecution, an oppressed group increases cryptic communication - they have to write letters with more code and insider language because they are being monitored.

Writing in metaphor and insider language can give a persecuted group plausible deniability if intercepted.

And, even the title of the book has a double meaning - the Revelation OF Jesus Christ (is it Jesus giving the revelation? or is it a revelation about the subject Jesus? both)

You can’t interpret the literature properly if you don’t understand John's references to Hebrew Scriptures!

End of world scenario = "eschaton"

Some scholars think the book was written by John the apostle, who, if so, would have been in his 90's at the time of writing. Some say it's a different John. Some say it's written "in the name of" John so to speak, because John had passed and therefore wouldn’t be able to be arrested for writing something anti-Rome.

(John is often called the patriarch of Ephesus' churches even though Paul did a lot there too).

It’s designed to be read aloud to a group (so when u read that the reader is blessed, the context is the out-loud reader).

Dr Adam Ayers explains that apocalyptic lit contains metaphor (a combination of two ideas creating a new meaning when combined) - in the case of Revelation, the metaphor contained is found within the comb of the spiritual world and the physical world.

…that there are representations / icons / avatars - Jesus' avatar is a lamb, YHWH's avatar is the figure on the throne. metaphor's meaning is revealed by the relationship btwn those two figures.

So reading Revelation is like reading hieroglyphics - like when you see these series of emojis and know what the person texting u means. you see these icons in the text and you’re expected to know what they represent.

Previously in chapters 4-5 we've seen the Lamb which is Jesus Christ be declared worthy, and He gets handed the scroll which has to do with judgement as well as the whole history of the world.

Chapter 6: 

I watched while the Lamb ripped off the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the Animals roar, “Come out!” I looked—I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and was given a victory garland. He rode off victorious, conquering right and left.When the Lamb ripped off the second seal, I heard the second Animal cry, “Come out!” Another horse appeared, this one red. Its rider was off to take peace from the earth, setting people at each other’s throats, killing one another. He was given a huge sword. When he ripped off the third seal, I heard the third Animal cry, “Come out!” I looked. A black horse this time. Its rider carried a set of scales in his hand. I heard a message (it seemed to issue from the Four Animals): “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, or three quarts of barley, but don’t lay even a finger on the oil and wine.”

When he ripped off the fourth seal, I heard the fourth Animal cry, “Come out!” I looked. A colorless horse, sickly pale. Its rider was Death, and Hell was close on its heels. They were given power to destroy a fourth of the earth by war, famine, disease, and wild beasts. When he ripped off the fifth seal, I saw the souls of those killed because they had held firm in their witness to the Word of God. They were gathered under the Altar, and cried out in loud prayers, “How long, Strong God, Holy and True? How long before you step in and avenge our murders?” Then each martyr was given a white robe and told to sit back and wait until the full number of martyrs was filled from among their servant companions and friends in the faith.

I watched while he ripped off the sixth seal: a bone-jarring earthquake, sun turned black as ink, moon all bloody, stars falling out of the sky like figs shaken from a tree in a high wind, sky snapped shut like a book, islands and mountains sliding this way and that. And then pandemonium, everyone and his dog running for cover—kings, princes, generals, rich and strong, along with every commoner, slave or free. They hid in mountain caves and rocky dens, calling out to mountains and rocks, “Refuge! Hide us from the One Seated on the Throne and the wrath of the Lamb! The great Day of their wrath has come—who can stand it?”

Let’s break some of this down:

6:1-2

"I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

Jesus opens a seal on the scroll, then one of the cherub-type creatures that we discussed in earlier episodes authoritatively invites a horseman on a horse to show up.

There are four cherubim and four horseman so some say it's a one-to-one announcement scenario here in chap 6. Let's take a look at one of the passages John had in mind when writing Revelation 6.

Zechariah 6:1-8

"I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits[a] of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth. Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit[c]rest in the land of the north.” "

The context for this is, Zechariah was a prophet as well as possibly a priest as well, during the exile (when the Babylonian empire had made the people of Judah disperse). Be wrote it in the late 6th century BC. a lot of Bible scholars believe he wrote chapters 1-8 of the book and the rest was somebody else adding to it later. that first chunk contains a recounting of Jewish history, a warning to the people, then 8 symbolic visions in a row, then some instructions and reassurance to God's people in exile.

Zech 6:18 is one of those 8 visions - the vision of the chariots (aka teams of horses). Btw the first vision in Zech is of four horses, and what we just read is the 8th vision which is similar to the first one but has four chariots. The four chariots are related to the four "corners" of the earth which was an old school way of saying, in every direction, or the whole world.

Since chariots were usually used in war, a lot of people think the idea in Zech 6 is punishment/judgement - that God is sending out a defense against the oppression and exile that has happened.

So we've got a prophet predicting God's judgement on the oppressive empire that kills and torments His people. And then in Revelation, what we're seeing is John doing the same.

So this first rider is on a white colored horse which some people say means a false peace. This is conquest, which often comes with a false promise of peace.

6:3-4

"When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.Its rider was given power to TAKE PEACE from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

So this second one's color is red, which makes sense because its about bloodshed and war.

This isn't my most common way that I tend to think about Jesus - the destroying judge that releases spiritual chariots of war out to the earth. But that's absolutely who He is.

On top of being my best friend and my shepherd and my healer and my guide and my safe place and my life source and the giver of all this is good and right... He's the just judge who will release destruction upon this wayward evil-filled earth. He is to be feared - revered - held in highest regard because His power is indescribable and awesome.

The OT passage that Rev 6 draws on, Ezekiel 14, where God tells Ezekiel He's going to send four terrible judgements on Israel for idolatry: sword, famine, wild beast, plague. Here in Revelation 6, John writes of conquest, war, famine, and plague. very similar!

6:5-6 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

We see that this third rider here is "famine" - we're looking at severe food shortage, which is why someone is weighing bread. and he's shouting out highly inflated food prices. The color associated is Black.

We just watched The Grab on Netflix which talks about how wealthy firms and governments are buying agricultural land in other countries to secure future food supply. There's a part where they predict famine scenarios and I couldn’t help but think about this third horseman.

Not everyone is convinced these horseman are being released one after another in sequential order.

In Beale's commentary, he writes:

The visionary sequence of the four seals being opened could represent the sequential occurrence of each disaster, one after another. But more probably the disasters are simultaneous. This is suggested in that (1) the fourth seal summarizes the prior three; (2) the models of Ezek. 14:12–13; Zech. 6:5–8; and the Synoptic eschatological discourse, on which Rev. 6:1–8 is based, portray events of tribulation occurring simultaneously; ..the glorified saints in Rev. 6:9–11 appear to have suffered under all four trials portrayed in the seals. Nevertheless, a logical pattern repeatable throughout the age is discernible: conquest (the first rider), together with civil unrest (especially for persecuted Christians—the second rider), leads to famine (the third rider) and death (the fourth rider)."

6:7-8 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Pale green is the color of a dead corpse.

There's a familiar reference in this part - the (possibly personified) Death and Hades from chapter 1, and chap 3.

An important takeaway from verses 1-8 is Jesus is in control of the world, and the chaos has a Person above it that could start or stop it at any time. And that person is the Son of Suffering, the one who experienced it too. He now holds the keys - He has sovereignty - over the horrible parts of existence as well as the good. And we can take heart knowing He doesn't ignore or waste our pain, and that there will come an end to it.

This section of scripture reminds us that terrible events can sometimes be permitted or even brought on by a good God, for reasons like punishing wickedness, or having a wider redemptive plan around the terribleness.

So those are the famous four horsemen of the Apocalypse, that correspond with the opening of the first four seals on the scroll.

Heiser: "In Revelation 6, the four horsemen are unleashed from God’s throne, which is an integral element of the Divine Council scene in Revelation 4-5. So let’s not lose sight of that."

Lets look what happens next.

6:9-10 "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they (the martyrs) had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

So if you've been asking why is Jesus who is sovereign unleashing all this horribleness on the earth? Here's your answer - it’s happening because of humanity's pervasive wickedness.

Remember the core figure of our faith was a martyr - a person killed unjustly by an evil regime for speaking the Truth. And He cares deeply for other martyrs, as well as for all oppressed persons in unjust systems. And He's the righteous judge of the earth; it would be unjust to let it go unpunished, and the martyrs by the throne in Heaven know this. They are the believers who have trusted God to avenge instead of taking it upon themselves. They are the believers who lived lives of peace before God, at great personal cost.

This scene John is describing places the martyrs right under the altar which many scholars think is the altar of incense like if you imagine the OT temple setup - the important thing to know is its real close to Gods throne.

Some scholars also point out that there was a star constellation called the Altar, and there are stars under it in the Milky Way that could be considered these glorified martyrs; there is other scriptural precedent for this metaphor like in Philippians 2 "you'll shine like stars in the universe" and they're clothes in white and stars are white - so there may be a layer of that here. There's actually a ton of “astral” metaphor throughout scripture.

Now let's hear another quote from Heiser about the martyrs here: "If Jesus is in control of Death and Hades now (and he is, because John has just made that point a few chapters earlier), then he gets to decide the severity of the judgment and where the final destination of those judged is going to be. And if you’re on his side, yes, even if you lose your physical life in the wake of all this upheaval—this chaos, this apocalyptic stuff— be assured that the Lord knows who you are and you will be with him. That’s the messaging. And John is using Old Testament imagery to communicate those ideas."

6:11 "Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.”

These are the white robes for those who conquer that we saw in chap 3.

Now, as if enough hasn't occurred already in chapter 6, let's look at what happens next.

6:12-14 "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

Beale says that here the world's judgement is "depicted with stock-in-trade OT imagery for the dissolution of the cosmos. This portrayal is based on a mosaic of OT passages that are brought together because of the cosmic metaphors of judgment that they have in common."

Let's just read one of them: Is 34

"Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples!

Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.

For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host;

he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.

Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.

All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll.

All their host shall fall as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree."

So we see God is judging the land and people but also its celestial hosts which was often a way to describe supernatural little g gods like fallen angel territorial rulers, etc.

6:15 -17 "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

This is the Day of the Lord, the future day of Judgement upon the earth, punishing wickedness and injustice, and preceding a renewal and a setting right. The New Heaven and New Earth.

Let's pray and ask God to strengthen us and keep us close to him, whatever may come…