 |
| Photo of Jon Tracy, by Jim Tracy |
1 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.”
2 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.
This is Christ’s crucifixion. He was triumphant and His church grew by leaps and bounds. He conquered sin, death, and hell on the The Cross, and His church “conquered” all nations for Christ by the time Paul wrote his epistles. (Romans 1:8, Romans 10:18, Colossians 1:6.)
Royalty rode on white horses and Jesus is the King of Kings.
3 And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, “Come and see.”
4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
The red horse signifies bloodshed.
Up until this time, all those alive in this region had known only the great Pax Romania (Roman Peace); a time of significant lack of war in Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. This peace is fixing to be removed, at least from Palestine.
Persecution began for the church immediately after the Crucifixion; first by the Jews, then by the Roman Empire. The Romans found both Christians and Jews to be odd and unacceptable because they wouldn’t worship the same gods they did (including the emperor), but insisted on only worshiping one God. The Romans would have accepted the worship of Yahweh if they had included the worship of the the emperor.
Nero had begun a serious persecution of the Christians in AD56; the worst in the history of the world. This was Open war on the Kingdom of God and was why John was on Patmos in the first place. Any peace they had up until this time was removed. Many, many saints were killed for the name of Christ, including most of the disciples and Paul. However, persecution usually causes the Church to grow, so it backfired on those committing it.
But most of this prophecy is really talking about the punishment of God’s wife, the Jewish nation, for committing adultery (idolatry, rejecting Christ). The punishment for adultery was death, usually by stoning.
At this time, Judah began their revolt against Rome, and Rome’s response was to travel the countryside killing massive numbers of Jews on their way to Jerusalem. By AD70 in Jerusalem itself there was a great bloodshed. There were three warring factions inside the city who were killing and plundering anyone that didn’t belong to them (meaning each other and innocent bystanders). The dead bodies were generally left lying in the streets to rot.
5 And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, “Come and see.” And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Black signifies death.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”
Those in Jerusalem suffered famine off and on for the decade before AD70, becoming its worst during the siege itself. This was caused mostly by the burning all the stores of food (several years’ worth!) before the Romans even arrived.
Disease, of course, always accompanies famine. We know this was a time of famine and not plenty because of the prices; the measure is about a quart and the penny is a day’s wages. So, enough wheat to make a single loaf of bread cost an entire day’s wages (about $120 at $15 per hour for an eight hour day, translated into today’s numbers). The rebels took the wine and oil out of the Temple for their own use, so even it was soon gone. (Josephus Book V, Chapter XIII, Section 6)
7 And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, “Come and see.”
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him…
Many, many died and went to hell in the destruction of Jerusalem and the surrounding regions; hundreds of thousands, almost all Jews who had rejected Christ.
…And power was 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.
Rome did not bother so much with the outskirts, more rural areas of the country. They marched in the most populated fourth of the country. Well over 800,000 were killed in the City of Jerusalem alone. (Josephus Book V, Chapter XIII, Section 7)
9 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:
Persecutions will come throughout the history of mankind. Those who persecute Christians can, at worst, kill the body. They can’t touch the soul. Those who die for Christ are close to Him in heaven (under the alter). They have a special place in front of God.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
They were not seeking vengeance themselves; they were leaving it in God’s hands where it belonged. Yet, they still call for justice to be done.
11 And 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.
The martyrs of this time period were clothed in purity and royalty. They were told to rest and wait as time wasn’t finished yet; there were still some more who would be martyred for Christ’s name.
12 And I beheld when He had opened 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;
The Roman Empire went through five emperors in eighteen months, beginning with Nero’s suicide in June, AD68 and ending with Vespasian’s appointment in December, AD69, (Vespasian was General Titus’ father). This was definitely a great “earthquake” to all the subjects of The Empire. It must also be noted that there were many physical earthquakes at this time leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius in AD72, but this shaking in the political world and in the religious world was far greater.
In Joseph’s dream in Genesis, the sun was Jacob and the moon his mother. If we assume this is still true (that the sun and moon represent the nation of Israel), then this is predicting the total darkening and slaughter of the Israelite nation in AD70.
13 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.
In Joseph's dream, the stars were his brothers. The notable men of Israel were totally slaughtered. None remained.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Israel disappeared, never to be seen again.*
The Roman army had a habit of actually removing mountains when they conquered a place. Judea was a mountainous region who had used that feature of their landscape to protect them for centuries. Titus brought workers with him who simply lowered the mountains and filled in the valleys making it easier to move their war-works in and harder for the Jews to find a place to hide.
This is also the time of great change in the church. Before The Cross, you had to convert to Judaism and keep The Law to be part of Israel and be saved. After the Cross, you accept Christ into your heart and live righteously, putting the needs of others ahead of your own (Philippians 2:3-5, Romans 11)
In every way possible the mountains were moved. Everything changed. Every religious and political country, mountain and island was moved out of their place and given a new orientation.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Everyone, even those who had nothing to lose, didn’t want to see what was happening in Jerusalem, it was so horrendous.
Jerusalem had many tunnels and basements dug into it over the centuries for defense and storage purposes. A large number of Jews, especially the rich and the leaders, hid in these tunnels when the walls fell to Titus. The Romans found them and slaughtered them. Jesus had warned of this same event in Luke 23:28-30.
16 And said 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:
17 “For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
The wrath of God poured out on the Jews for their crucifixion and rejection of Christ was the most horrid thing planet earth has ever seen. It set everyone to trembling and fearing God. Literally, many in Jerusalem dug holes under houses to hide in, in hopes they could survive until after the Romans left and the warring factions quit killing people. It didn’t work.
(*Today's nation called "Israel" is made up of immigrants from many countries and genetic lines who have adopted the Jewish religion and culture, often for many generations (1000 years in some cases). There has been so much intermarriage between the original Jews from the time of Rome to today that they are not actually a genetically unique people. They are the only free nation on the Arabian Peninsula, and a tremendously important ally to America, but they are not the same people called "Israelites" in the Bible.)