Identifying the Seals of the Apocalypse

The Seals of the Apocalypse

In Revelation 5 we have that grand scene in the throne room of God, where no one but the Lamb was found worthy to take the scroll. He had successfully redeemed mankind by his own blood, and thereby proved his worthiness to be the heir to power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and praise. The scroll represented the consummation of all redemptive history, God's master plan to save the lost human race. Each seal broken was a witness to the Lamb's legitimacy to rule and reign in that ultimate place.

We know that Jesus ascended to heaven shortly after his resurrection, only to return shortly thereafter to reveal himself to his disciples and ready them for the task ahead of them. It seems to me, the prophetic scenario in Revelation 5 would have to represent the moments immediately after Christ's resurrection when he ascended to his Father, entered the throne room, and, having completed his mission as the Redeemer of Mankind, received the scroll. His return to the disciples, though not included in the prophetic scene of that chapter, becomes the perfect segue into the First Seal, since the Great Commission is what that is all about (as we shall see).

#1 - The White Horse

Where in the Bible, and especially in the Apocalypse, was the color white ever used symbolically for anything other than good? The answer: never! The white horse does not represent anything evil, such as the Antichrist, the idea itself is ridiculous if one gives it any thought at all. No, this seal represents the church being turned loose on the Great Commission (ca. 33 AD). Its breakage initiates the Church Age, really, the Age of the Gentiles.

#2 - The Red Horse

The color invokes the thought of blood. Fittingly, the rider is tasked with taking peace away from the earth. To understand this image, we cannot overlook the "world" in which John and the early church existed. It was a Roman world, ruled by the strong-armed, yet prospering comfortably within the steadying hands of the Pax Romana. Into that "tranquility" dropped the Emperor Commodus, after which everything began swirling down the commode. The red horse represents the loss of the Pax Romana (ca. 192 AD).

#3 - The Black Horse

Grain was effected by the famine unleashed by this rider, but not oil and wine. Why? The crops that produce oil and wine were grown in more southerly climes than was grain. The implication is that this broken seal effected northerly climes more than southerly ones. Factor in the color, which speaks of the loss of sunlight and warmth, and out pops the Little Ice Age as the proximate cause of the shortage. The black horse itself represents the Great Famine, ca. 1315 AD.

#4 - The Pale Horse

Even though this rider has the power to kill by sword and famine, like the two before it, its unique claim to fame is the decimation of one fourth of earth's population by the added means of pestilence and wild beasts. The combination of details could not describe better in condensed, artistic language the outcome of the bubonic plague. It was world-wide, borne by rats, and caused enough chaos in its wake to produce war, anarchy and famine. Most importantly, it killed a fourth of the population of the entire earth. The jaundiced horse represents the Black Death (ca. 1347 AD).

#5 - The Martyrs

Often, the assumption is that martyrdom was a phenomenon of the early church, but point in fact, the numbers of martyrs were not large then. That changed with the advent of Protestantism in the sixteenth century, when a sudden uptick in the numbers of martyrs rose precipitously to become a flood of multiplied thousands. The rate is still escalating today-- it must be getting downright crowded under that altar! Why doesn't God step in and put an end to it? It's a full number thing again. Suffice it to say, this seal represents the increase in martyrdom that began with the Reformation (ca. 1520 AD).

These five seals are historical to us. Their initial breaking unleashed something that still reverberates in the warp and woof of current events. For instance, the church is still actively engaged, and more successfully than ever, in winning the world to Christ; the world, particularly the Mediterranean world, has never been as peaceful again as it was before the unleashing of the red horse; severe grain famines have occurred over and over again since the black horse went riding; frightful pandemics seem to cycle through regularly since the pale horse first clip-clopped over planet Earth; and martyrs are being killed today at record pace though that "seal was broken" 500 years ago.

Let's get on wtih the rest of the seals which remain prophetic.

#6 - The Volcanic Cataclysm
The text does not mention a volcano, it just seems to describe one to me. From pyroclastic material falling from the skies (stars), to pyroclastic flows (rolling clouds), to ash choked skies (blackened sun, red moon), to moving mountains and islands, the description seems to fit. This, of course, is not your grandmother's volcano (like Krakatoa), this is something more akin to Toba or perhaps Yellowstone. People survive the cataclysm with the anticipation of the immediacy of God's wrath. If the Antichrist needs a story to cover the disappearance of the Church, this would fit the bill!

The Rapture
This is more akin to an inset, or an interlude, within the narrative of the sixth seal. The four angels holding back the winds refers to the events of verses 6:13-14, and makes the inset a snapshot taken as those events began. In the moment of earthly time that it takes the events of the inset to occur, the marking angels complete their task (v. 7:3). Then, time and space (the winds) are no longer held at bay and destruction continues. Both aspects (A and B below) of the inset are set off by the phrase, "after this" and reveal those who are ready (ie. truly believing in Christ) as the 70th week begins:

A) 144,000 Jews are sealed on earth, and remain there, and

B) Gentile saints are translated out from the Tribulation to the throne room of God.

#7 - The 70th Week of Daniel

This seal, when broken, hands off the flow of end time events to the Seven Trumpets and the Seven Vials. It points to the same period as the 70th Week of Daniel, which is also divided into two. So, the Trumpets represent the first half, the Vials the second half of the 70th week, which is often referred to as the Great Tribulation.

That's my take on the Seven Seals. I think it makes sense. When it comes to the Revelation, my firm belief is that it should make sense, to any of God's servants. It should make sense to you. I hope this helps.