The Apocalypse

The Visions of John in Patmos:

By Edward Dennett

Chapter 6

REVELATION 6.

THE direct action of this part of the book now commences, in accordance with its character, with a series of judgments. Rev. 4 and Rev. 5 are, as we have seen preparatory and introductory; they unfold to us the scene in heaven in relation to the events which are about to take place on the earth. Man may sever earth from heaven; but God, spite of the will and evil energies of man, still holds the reins of government, whatever the instruments He may be pleased to employ, in His own hands. To borrow language: "God's ways are behind the scenes; but He moves all the scenes which He is behind. We have to learn this, and let Him work, and not think much of man's busy movements; they will accomplish God's. The rest of them all perish and disappear. We have only peacefully to do His will."

A striking illustration of this truth is found in the first verse of our chapter. John says: 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].¹ 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." (vv. 1, 2.) The important point to be observed is, that the coming forth of the white horse on earth is the result of the Lamb opening the seal in heaven. The rider might be acting entirely from his own will, but here we are permitted to see the source of his activity. He might be wholly ignorant of it, but none the less is he the instrument of the divine will. Lust of conquest might be his sole motive, just as it was in the case of Nebuchadnezzar in days of old, only God in His infinite wisdom knows how to make the wrath of man to praise Him in the accomplishment of His purposes.

Who, then, is this rider upon the white horse? Before this question is answered, the reader must be reminded that, in accordance with the interpretation given on Revelation 4, the events here symbolized are wholly future. There are those who, missing the truth of the church and the church's hope, regard this scripture as already fulfilled; and, having ransacked the records of the past, they will point to certain events which, in their judgment, correspond with these symbols. This is to turn prophecy into history, besides ignoring, as already noticed, the threefold division of this book made by the Lord Himself. (Rev. 1:19.) It is quite true that there are often foreshadowings of the fulfilment of a prophecy, even as the first Napoleon, flitting across the stage of the world, was by his energy and rapidity of conquest, an undoubted shadow of the final head of the Roman Empire, if not indeed the seventh head, of whom the angel said, "When he cometh, he must continue a short space." (Rev. 17:10.) But it is a mistake to suppose that, because striking agreements with the thing predicted can be detected, you have found its complete fufilment. We need, therefore, to be on our guard; and then, when we understand the structure of the book, and that all after Rev. 3 relates to the future, we shall be kept from vain surmisings, and be able reverently to pursue our enquiry.

Returning then to our question, we must, in order to seek the answer, attend to the details here given. The prominent object is the white horse.² A horse is often used in Scripture as a symbol of God's power in His providential government (see Zechariah 1:8-11); and the white horse, from the analogy of Rev. 19, would seem to be connected with the exercise of victorious judgments, all-conquering might in conquest. The rider has a bow, setting forth his warrior character; and a crown was given unto him.³ The import of this statement will be, that this mighty conqueror, used as others have been in past ages for the execution of God's judgments upon earth, is not a monarch when he first appears, but one who obtains a crown by his energy, his strategy, or his victories. The powers that be are ordained of God, and hence, though this successful warrior may even seize his crown, it is yet given to him.⁴ Lastly, he goes forth conquering and to conquer; no one, and nothing, can withstand his seemingly irresistible power, as he marches on through victory to victory.

Such is the divine portrayal of a mighty conqueror who will arise hereafter, as the blind instrument, like Nebuchadnezzar, of God's vengeance upon the nations of the earth. Who he will be it is impossible, spite of the pretensions of men, to forecast; but from indications given in this book, it may be that the picture finds its counterpart in the first "beast" of Rev. 13; that is, the imperial head of the western empire. (vv. 1-8; see also Rev. 17:10-12.)

The next three seals may be referred to in fewer words. There are two points in them common to the first: the event on earth follows upon the opening of the seal in heaven, and it is one of the living creatures in each case that calls attention to the effect of opening the seal. This latter point aids in the understanding of the character of the event; for, if the living creatures are emblems of the attributes of God as displayed in creation, and are seen in heaven as connected with the throne, a "throne of executory judgment," it is evident that we are here upon the ground "of the providential course of God's dealings"-dealings in judgment, it must be remembered, by which He is about to make good His character in government on the earth. But, as has been written, "they have God's voice in them, the voice of the Almighty; which the ear of him who has the Spirit hears. These (the consequences on earth of opening the seals in heaven) complete the providential plagues as spoken of in Scripture. Then direct judgments follow. These (the providential plagues) are what we may call preparatory measures."⁵ The principles thus laid down will enable us to grasp more intelligently the following parts of the vision.

On the opening of the second, third, and fourth seals other horses appear, red, black, and pale — all emblematical of their mission. In each of these cases, as it would seem, the rider is less prominent than in the case of the first, being, as it were, bound up with the horse so as to present a single idea. Thus the second horse is red, a colour connected with blood-shedding; and in agreement with this, it is given to the rider to take away peace from the earth; and the period would be characterized by internecine warfare, men should kill one another; and of all this the great sword given to the rider is but a symbol. Nor must it be overlooked, that this second horse may be intimately associated with the first; so also the third and fourth with their predecessors. It is what will mark the time of which John writes, and of which the Lord Himself had forewarned His disciples. (See Matt. 24:6-7.)

Famine is set forth by the black horse, an almost invariable result, as history testifies, of prolonged wars and conflicts. The quantity of wheat and barley needful for the barest sustenance⁶ would be sold for a penny; that is, a denarius. But in the midst of widespread desolation and want, God thinks of the needs of His creatures, and limits the effects of the famine by sparing the oil and the wine.

Pestilence as plainly characterizes the fourth horse; for his colour is pale, and his name that sat on him was Death; and Hades, the abode of the dead, followed, as if, in the striking meaning of the figure, to gather up, as its prey, those whom death or the pestilence might destroy. There was, moreover, "power given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." (v. 8.) War, famine, pestilence, and the plague of wild beasts are now crowded together (as they have often been) as attendant upon, or the results of, the" judicial scourges. These are what Ezekiel calls God's four sore plagues (Rev. 14:21; compare also Rev. 5 and Rev. 6); and these are the weapons with which He will one day deal with the earth on account of her iniquity. We have said "the earth"; it is really the fourth part of the earth. The "third part" is a prophetic expression for the Roman Empire; and accordingly we gather that these fearful judgments will be limited in their area. that the whole of the Roman earth will not be visited. They will constitute, as preparatory inflictions, solemn warnings, God's call to those who can recognise His hand to humiliation and repentance. (Cp. Rev. 11:13.)

With the opening of the fifth seal an insight is vouchsafed into the condition of the remnant testimony during the procession of the events associated with the previous seals: "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," (v. 9.) There will thus he persecution, and that of the severest kind. As the Lord Himself, speaking of this same period, forewarned His disciples, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matt. 24:9; compare Rev. 12:17.) The Holy Ghost will have departed with the church; the will of man and the power of evil will be unbridled; it will be man's hour and the power of darkness, and the consequence will be relentless animosity against all who maintain the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. These witnesses for God will undoubtedly be Jews, quickened Jews, who will come into the place of testimony after the saints have been caught up into the air to be for ever with the Lord, and who will form the persecuted remnant so often met with in the Book of Psalms. That they are not Christians is shown from their cry for vengeance, as well as indeed from the name in which they address God. They do not possess the Spirit of adoption; they cry, "O Sovereign Ruler,⁷ holy and true." etc. (v. 10.)

But their cry is heard; for "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." (v. 11) The following words explain this scene: "Their being under the altar means simply that they had offered their bodies, as sacrifices for the truth, to God. The white robes are the witnesses of their righteousness — God's declared approval of them. … I do not think giving white robes is resurrection." Indeed, the fact that others were yet to be martyred proves that it is not; for we afterwards read, "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Rev. 20:4.) Here we have the complete company of God's faithful witnesses, who, during the interval between the coming of Christ for the church and His appearing, did not count their lives dear unto them, but sealed their testimony with their blood, and who are now seen to have the blessed recompense of enjoying part in the first resurrection. The witnesses of our chapter belong to this company, and meanwhile white robes are bestowed upon them in token of God's approval and recognition of their fidelity.

The Lamb now opens 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; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together: and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." (vv. 12-14.) That this, in accordance with the nature of the book, is symbolical language is evident (see Rev. 11, Rev. 12; Daniel 8, 9, 10, etc.); and hence the meaning is that, consequent upon opening the sixth seal, there will be "a violent convulsion of the whole structure of society," whereby all order and every form of government, supreme, derivative, or subordinate (sun, moon, stars), will be overturned and, for the time, destroyed.⁸

The effect of this awful commotion is next described. Every class of society, from the kings of the earth down to the poor slaves, are filled with abject terror. They had been making themselves happy without God; but while, like Belshazzar, they were feasting themselves to their hearts' content with their wicked enjoyments, the whole framework of man's order, on which they had been reposing in fancied security, is smitten, and shattered into ten thousand pieces. God does not appear in the judgment; but man has a conscience, and thus it is, in the presence of this dire visitation, that all alike are apprehensive of the wrath of God and of the Lamb. Ah!  where now is man's courage? His warriors even tremble in the felt presence of a God whose very existence they had hitherto denied, and with one accord they seek to hide themselves, as they cry 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; for the great day of His wrath is come: and who shall be able to stand?" (vv 16, 17.) That day had not yet come; but in the terror of the moment, inspired by the awful events through which they are passing, they anticipate it, and their consciences rightly tell them that they will not be able to stand before the God whose fear they had utterly cast off, and before the Lamb, whom they had scorned and rejected, when once He rises up to execute His judgments in the earth.

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1) There is considerable doubt as to the authenticity of the words enclosed in brackets — "and see," as also in verses 3, 5, 7. If accepted, the address is manifestly to John; if omitted, it would hardly be so, though it may be generally to call attention to what follows. Various interpretations have been offered, and some of them very fanciful.

2) To maintain, as some have done, that because the Lord Himself comes out of heaven on a white horse (Rev. 19:11), it is also Christ on the white horse here, is to overlook the plainest teachings of this vision.

3) We append the following note from the New Translation: "Or 'had been given to him'; that is, it is not expressive of a particular time. He had one which was given to him. But it is the same tense as 'went forth.'"

4) This is saying too much; for while "the powers that be" are ordained of God up to the rapture of the saints, it would seem that God does not recognise any power as derived from Himself in the interval between the rapture and the appearing of Christ. The crown therefore will be given by man.

5) Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.

6) It has sometimes been noticed that a measure of wheat was the daily allowance for a Roman soldier.

7) Such is the rendering given in the New Translation.

8) The world has witnessed many such moral earthquakes, among the most notable of which was the French Revolution of 1789, that which France recently celebrated. It was probably the most violent outburst against God that has ever been seen since the cross; and yet such is the spirit of the age, that Christians could be found in numbers to assist at its centennial commemoration!