The Vision of the Seven Seals - The End

Revelation 6:1-17

¹Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”

²And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

³When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”

⁴And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.

⁶And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”

⁸And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

¹¹Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹²When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,

¹³and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.

¹⁴The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

¹⁵Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,

¹⁶calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

¹⁷for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

God must have given John special mental strength in order for him to endure the sights and sounds of the apocalypse. We are horrified to witness even a small scrap of the atrocities we can perpetrate against one another. But to witness the whole thing as John describes in Revelation would be hard to withstand. How would you walk away from that with your sanity? I can only assume it was with God’s help. Having seen the four horsemen mete out their violence, John now sees the victims of that terror under the incense altar. They are crying out for God to avenge their deaths. They are dressed in the white robes of the righteousness won for them by the blood Jesus. God comforts them with the knowledge that He will indeed dispense the punishments that have been earned by those who have behaved with hatred. For those under the altar, it is a time to rest patiently.

Finally, the sixth seal is opened by Jesus and that punishment is at hand. The earth and the heavens are destroyed. Those who chose not to love the Lord and trust in Him for salvation have now realized their mistake and they seek a place to hide. But none can be found. And now it is too late. The time for repentance has passed.

Even as I write those words “the time for repentance has passed” I am stunned. Right now we walk in a place where repentance is possible, desirable, and met with forgiveness. We walk in God’s mercy and grace abounds (because sin is great.) But to even imagine a time when that will end is difficult. We’ve never had to experience an end to God’s time of mercy. But it will come. On the pages of Revelation we learn that God’s wrath will not be withheld forever. Even as a believer I find that concept terrifying which means that the day of repentance is at hand. Now is the time to surrender into the arms of a Loving Savior who gave up His life so that the punishment for our rebellion would not fall upon us. He suffered it all for us. There is a place to hide from the coming judgment and that is in His sacrificial blood.

Dear Lord, the words of Revelation are difficult and terrifying. But You are merciful and gracious. You have made a way for us to avoid looking for a place to hide on the last day. Instead we hide ourselves in You right now. Please keep us in the shadow of Your wing so that should that day come soon, we find ourselves in You alone. In the name of Jesus, the Lamb of God I pray. Amen.