Then I watched while the Lamb broke open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures cry out in a voice like thunder, “Come forward.” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories. 3 When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature cry out, “Come forward.” 4 Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And he was given a huge sword. 5 When he broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature cry out, “Come forward.” I looked, and there was a black horse, and its rider held a scale in his hand. 6 I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures. It said, “A ration of wheat costs a day’s pay, and three rations of barley cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil or the wine.” 7 When he broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature cry out, “Come forward.” 8 I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades accompanied him. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth. 9 When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, “How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” 11 Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been. 12 Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood. 13 The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind. 14 Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. 16 They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?”'
The seals describe the eschatological future that John and the early Christian Church thought was imminent and would occur in their lifetimes. They believed they were living in the final age of human history as opposed to the final stage of salvation history which God continued to reveal in a progressive manner. After the resurrection, the disciples asked “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority (Acts 1:6-7).” St. Paul thought he would live to see the second coming of Christ when “The dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive (1 Thess. 4:15-17).” The author of The Book of Revelation was responding to the persecution of the Church by the Roman authorities. The Roman Empire was called the great Harlot, Babylon (Rev. 16:9-19:2). John did not intend the symbolic and allegorical language in the book, which is one of the chief characteristics of apocalyptic literature, to be taken literally and used as a key to predicting the end of the world.
The imagery in the first four seals is taken from Zech. 1:8-11 and 6:1-8. The key themes in this chapter are the persecution of the Christians, the Judgment of those persecuting them, and the salvation of those who persevere to the end. The Lamb opened the first of the seven seals and a horseman on a white horse was commanded by one of the four living creatures to come forward. The horseman had a bow and received a crown (vv. 1-3). A white horse represents victory. A bow was used by the Parthian army to attack the Roman Empire. Parthia was Rome’s greatest rival on its eastern border and those under Roman oppression hoped that Parthia would liberate them (v. 1).
The Lamb opened the second seal and a red horse, and its rider were commanded by the second living creature to come forward and was given the power to create war (vv. 3-4). The Lamb opened the third seal and a black horse and its rider with a scale in his hand were commanded to come forth by the third living creature. The vision shows that at some time in the future grain, a staple food for life, will be scarce but oil and wine will be plentiful (vv. 5-6). A denarius could normally purchase eight to sixteen times more grain, but war makes the necessities of life scarce. The Lamb opened the fourth seal and a pale green horse and its rider death, accompanied by Hades (the underworld), were commanded to come forward by the fourth living creature. The power of Death and Hades will increase until a quarter of the world is affected. War is followed by famine and pestilence (Vv. 2-8).
The Lamb opened the fifth seal and saw the souls of the martyrs at the foot of the altar, which is comparable to the altar of holocausts where the OT sacrificial blood was shed. The souls cried out for justice to triumph by avenging the shedding of their blood. In the OT life is in the blood. Each martyr was made white (pure) and given a glorified body by the blood of the Lamb, but justice cannot triumph before the predetermined number of martyrs have been killed (Vv. 9-11). The Lamb opened the sixth seal and the apocalyptic and eschatological language describe cosmic destruction – the end of the world (vs. 12-17).
Almighty God, through the Holy Spirit, you give us the grace to will and to do. Grant us the fortitude to boldly spread the Gospel in Christ’s name so that we may receive the glory and honor promised to those who persevere to the end. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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