Revelation Chapter 6- The Horsemen

Chapter 6 of the book of Revelation is best known for the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Indeed they are important and I will be going into great detail explaining what they are tasked on doing. The first horseman is the white, verse one,  

¹ Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.”

² And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Now, when most people think of the word conquering, they think of Alexander the Great, or Hitler. They usually think of somebody who takes something by force. There are many different ideas on who the first rider is, some say he is Jesus, some say he was Hitler. Without a doubt, the white horseman, named Victory, is the most disputed about because people don't know if he is good or bad.

HE IS BAD. And here's why: The first rider could not in fact be Jesus because Jesus is in heaven opening the other 6 seals in heaven. If you think about it logically, the first horsemen must be like the rest of the horsemen because you can't have 3 evil horsemen and 1 good.

It is quite possible that the first horseman is the Antichrist. Why? Because later on in Revelation John writes that the Antichrist will be accepted by all people. How is this possible though? If he arrives as a Jew or a Christian, the other major world religions will reject him. Likewise, if he arrives as a Hindu or a Buddhist, he will be rejected by the Muslims, Christians and Jews. And, if he arrives as a Muslim, he will receive the same rejection from the other religions. How can he arrive in a manner that will make 500 million Buddhists, two billion Christians, one billion Hindus, one and a half billion Muslims and millions of Jews all welcome him as their mutual leader? His appearance will obviously have to involve some apparently supernatural or miraculous signs in order to attain this worldwide acceptance throughout all of earth's major world religions.

This is the perfect opportunity for him to make his appearance, because he is not mentioned to be coming any other way, only that he will be accepted by all people. Not to mention the fact that he will get EVERYONE on his side. THIS is the way he will conquer the world, through PEACE!

Moving on to the next horseman, verse 3:

³ When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.”

⁴ Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

The second rider (appropriately named "War") is the "Red" rider. Obviously, the color red is symbolic to the color of blood. This suggests that A LOT of blood will be spilled, it could be a reference to the battle of Armageddon later on.

The third horseman, Famine, the black horseman:
⁵ When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
⁶ And I heard 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 the wine.”

The word denarius means a days pay, or however much you are paid on a daily basis.
Now, when most people read verse 6 they don't understand the symbolism behind the wheat/barley and oil/wine. Wheat and barley symbolize the earthly, sinful system. Oil and wine represent God's blessings.
The black horseman represents famine. He was directed to make the basic necessities of earthly life scarce (harm the earthly political and religious system) but not to diminish God's blessings or harm His worship.
Jesus Himself was not mentioned in these specific words, but the entire book of Revelation is about the revelation of Jesus in His full glory and power to the entire world.

And finally, the fourth and final horseman. Death, verse 7:
⁷ When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.”
⁸ So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

In the year 2009, according to the US Census Bureau there were appoximatly 6.75 billion people on earth.
Now imagine, when Death comes, ONE QUARTER, or 25% of the world's population would be gone. If he would hav come in 2009, that would be approximatly 1.7 billion people dead. There have been other deadly plauges in the past, but none hole even a candle to what the Pale rider will bring.
Death, by far, has the most power over all of the other horsemen. He is the only horseman given a name in the bible, and he is the only one not gievn a weapon, but rather, he is given power to kill with the sword, with famine, death, and the animals of the earth.

-----This ends the explanation of the four horsemen-----

Revelation Chapter 5-The 7 Seals

Chapter 5 is the introduction to the beginning of the judgements of earth. We are first exposed to the 7 seals, which are the 7 horrific, unimaginable wraths that God will unleash upon the earth. But first, we have to examine what John writes, verse one,
¹ And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
² Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”
³ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. Verse 3 gives us an idea of the almighty power that this scroll contains. Nobody, not even the archangel could open it, they couldn't even LOOK at it as if they wanted to TRY. But then, verse 5 says:
⁵ But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Who is this Lion of Judah and this Root of David? It is Jesus Christ the Son of God, as it says in verse 6, ⁶ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

The rest of chapter 5 shows how the Lamb is given power by absolutely EVERYONE.
This is the rest of the chapter:

⁸ Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:


      “ You are worthy to take the scroll,
      And to open its seals;
      For You were slain,
      And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
      Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
       ¹⁰ And have made us kings and priests to our God;
      And we shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice:


      “ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
      To receive power and riches and wisdom,
      And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:


      “ Blessing and honor and glory and power
      Be to Him who sits on the throne,
      And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

¹⁴ Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.


This is in direct correlation to Romans 14:11 where Jesus says: For it is written, As I live, said the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Revlelation Chapter 4-The Throne Room

With the completion of the letters to churches, John was shown the throneroom of God. As it says in verse one:  ¹ After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Chapter 4 is the shortest chapter in the book of Revelation, although, it is one of the most descriptive, most beautiful chapters in all of the bible, as verse 2 describes,
² Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
³ And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. The "He" that John describes is God. Now, in John's time, one of the most precious stones was emerald because it was so sparse in the region. But not only that, the emerald stone is thought to preserve love. The emerald has long been the symbol of hope and faith, and is considered to be the stone of prophecy. Now, what is overlooked by many is the sardius stone. Many people don't know what a sardius stone even looks like, here it is:

Okay, so now you've seen a sardius stone, but why does John describe God as being like a sardius stone, rather than say, a diamond, or a sapphire? The reason why John chose to compare God's physical image to a sardius stone is because inscribed on the sardius stone (later on in Revelation) was the name Judah, which means "Praise of Jehovah" and denotes the expression of praise. The sardius stone was red in color symbolizing blood & man. The tribe of Judah was the regal and ruling tribe of God. It was out of this tribe that the lawgivers and kings came. Blessings, joy, strength, and victory were always their portion.

Verse 4:

⁴ Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

Ignorantly, many people believe that the 24 elders represents the 24 hours in a day. But remember, back in biblical times, they didn't have 24-hour clocks.

If we go back to the book of Matthew we read:

⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
⁵¹ Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

⁵³ and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

These saints, whom are not named, are called the "first-fruits" Notice how in verse 53, they did not come out of their graves until AFTER Jesus was resurected from the grave: 1 Corinthians chapter 15 explains the "first-fruits.

²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

²³ But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

²⁴ Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

Notice there is the obvious resurrection/rapture of the righteous at Messiah's coming that all of us today hope to be part of, as well as the one at "the end" that speaks of when the rest of the (unrighteous) dead are raised.  However what we often look over is the the fact that at Messiah's resurrection there were also "firstfruits" PLURAL.

Having all of this information, we can accurately assume that the 24 elders are the firstfruits when Jesus ressurected from the grave.

Verse 5: 

⁵ And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

The 7 spirits of God are:
1 — the Spirit of the Lord;
2 — the Spirit of wisdom;
3 — the Spirit of understanding;
4 — the Spirit of counsel;
5 — the Spirit of might;
6 — the Spirit of knowledge;
7 — and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

Verse 6:

⁶ Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

⁸ The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within.

When I first read this I had to think to myself, why are these creatures in the throneroom of God? Then I read:

And they do not rest day or night, saying: 

“Holy, holy, holy

 Lord God Almighty, 

Who was and is and is to come!”

But just like the 24 elders, what do the 4 creatures represent? Well, in a sense:

The four living creatures stand for everything that is noblest, strongest, wisest, and swiftest in nature. Each of them has the pre-eminence in his own particular sphere and world. The lion is supreme among beasts; the ox is supreme among cattle; the eagle is supreme among birds; and man is supreme among all creatures. The lion is the king of beasts, the noblest of them all. The labouring ox is the strongest of beasts. The eagle is the swiftest of all birds. And man is the wisest in all creation.
So, then, the beasts represent all the greatness and the strength and the beauty of nature. Here we see nature praising God. In the verses which are to follow we see the twenty-four elders praising God; and when we put the two pictures together we get the complete picture of both nature and man engaged in constant praise and adoration of God. The ceaseless activity of nature under the hand of God is a ceaseless tribute of praise.


Verse 9:
⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 
¹¹ “ You are worthy, O Lord
      To receive glory and honor and power;
      For You created all things,
      And by Your will they exist and were created.”

You see, even those who are the kings of kings and have came back from the dead and have a special place for themselves in heaven still worship the one who created them, selfless, honorable, and worthy, THAT is the one they worship.

-----End Chapter 4-----

Chapter 3-The Churches Continued...

Sardis- Today, in modern-day society, when we think of a "dead" church, we usually think of a church that has given up. We picture a pastor who is apathetic to the Word of God, and we see the men, women, and children of the church slouching down in their seats as they wait for the 12:00 bell to strike. This is OUR conception of modern-day "dead" churches.



In chapter 3, Jesus explains how the church of Sardis was dead: 

¹ I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
² Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God."

The key thing to look at here is when Jesus says "...strengthen the things that remain, that you are ready to die for..." Sardis was the one church who gave into the temptations of man. The church of Sardis, like Ephesus, was once a thriving and beautiful church. But as people began to trade, ideas traded as well, that's when the church of Sardis became impure in God's eyes. The reason? It began to take in all the pagan religions and their beliefs. Calvanism and Arminianism (one of the refutes of Calvinism). These teachings strayed from God's true words and, in God's eyes, brought the demise to the Church, making the church "dead."


Philadelphia-   In the opening to the letter to Philadelphia, verse 7 says,
⁷ These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.
What does this mean. Well, throughout the book of Revelation, if you get one thing from this, remember, this book is the most complex, metaphorical book in the bible. In a litteral sense, and with today's technologies, ANY physical door can be opened. In this verse, John is not writing about a physical door, but rather, the door that Jesus offers. HE is the door. In a sense YOU are the only person who has the key. What is the key? Well, the key is your faithfulness, fidelity, and love of God. It is the repentance of sin for the key to forgiveness that can only be offered by opening the door, and that door is Jesus.
Now, unlike the other churches, Philadelphia is the only church that Jesus said was weak, as written here; 
⁸ I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
The church however, did sin. It brought in the false people of God, the gentiles who claimed to be Jews, and in the end of days, God will open the peoples' eyes and see what they've done and make them repent.


Laodiceans- The final of the 7 churches. Laodiceans is the most hated of all of the churches, here's why:
¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
¹⁶ So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Hey! That doesn't sound so bad? Right? No. Look what the New King James translation says;


¹⁵ I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will VOMIT you out of My mouth.

Jesus, a clean and pure spirit, saying he will VOMIT you out of his mouth. That's when you know you've done something wrong! John goes on to write;
¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

From this letter we can say two things. 1) The church of Laodiceans can be considered a "dead" church and a church of greed, in which they have perverted God's image and have become a church of hypocracy, not love. And 2) God doesn't hate anything more that "lukewarmness." The definition is not being cold enough to be cold and not being hot enought to be hot. Saying things like "ohh I'll go to church next Sunday" or "i'll skip praying today, i'm tired." Things like that INFURIATE God. And know, that when the end comes, or when we die and we are standing before God and his angels He's going to say, "what have YOU done in your life?" And just know, that saying "Ohh yeah.. I went to church a few times..." Is NOT the right answer.


-----End of Chapter 3-----

Revelation Chapter 2-The Churches

Chapter 2 and 3 are a collection of the letters that God told John to write to the 7 churches of Asia. If not examined carefully, chapter 2-3 in the book of Revelation is ignorantly overlooked. But if we look at it carefully we find that some of the verses can relate to today's world.


Ephesus- From verse 1-7, John is tasked to write to the church of Ephesus. At first, he writes,
 ² I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
 ³ And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Good, right? Wrong. Throughout chapter 2-3, the churches have sinned against God (not necessarily all). Ephesus, in verse 4, John writes,  
⁴ Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. The "first love" the John writes about, is God. Isn't it ironic how, even in today's world, we see that some "churches" as they call themselves, pride themselves on stealing money, and scamming innocent Christians because of their greed? Indeed, Ephesus can be traced back thousands of years, but can also be seen in today's world.


Smyrna- Smyrna, was the church, described by John, as still being loyal and faithful to God. Verse 10 writes, ¹⁰ Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.


When John writes about the ten days in prison, it was a prophetic representation of the persecutions of Christians in Rome. There were TEN major timeframes in which the Christian people were persecuted:

The first occurred under Nero in 67 AD. It is alleged he used the Christians as a scapegoat for his fire.
The second transpired under Domitian, beginning in 81 AD., again they were scapegoats for all that went ill in the Empire.
The third was suffered under Trajan, starting 108 AD.
The fourth, done by Marcus Aurelius Antoninas. Begun 162 AD.
The fifth was under Severus in 192 AD.
The sixth, conceived in 235 AD under Maximus.
The seventh is attributed to Decius in 249 AD. His most famous victim being Fabian, bishop of Rome who was executed in 250 AD.
Emperor Valerian is credited for starting the eighth wave in 257 AD.
The ninth began in 274 AD under Aurelian. Felix, bishop of Rome, was among the executed.
The tenth and last, that of Diocletian in 303 AD. A particularly bloody affair by the accounts.


-The church of Smyrna was directly in the jurisdiction of the Roman empire-


Pergamos- Later on, in verse 14, John writes, about Pergamos, the Pagan church.¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
¹⁵ Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which leadeth them into acts of sexual immortality. Which is the thing I hate."


Now, if you haven't read the Old Testament, a man named Balaam was an unholy prophet who opressed the Israelites. One day, he was standing before 7 alters (there's that 7 again) and on each alter he offered an animal. Each time he offered an animal, he cursed the Israelites. But each time he cursed them, God changed the churse into wonderful blessings. Realizing he couldn't curse the Israelites, he led them into idolatry and acts of sexual immortality.


Thyatira- The final church in chapter 2 is the church of Thyatira. Skipping down to verse 20 John declares, 
²⁰ Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
²¹ And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.


Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidonians (1 Kings 16:31).
Her name originally meant 'The Prince Baal exists'. Baal was a weather god worshipped in the Syro-Palestinian world. In Biblical Hebrew, Jezebel's name means 'there is no nobility'.


-----End of Chapter 2-----

Revelation Chapter 1-Beginning of the End

A bit of background history: The book of Revelation was written by a servent of Jesus, named John, while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. One day, John had a vision of the end of days, and God told him to write down EVERYTHING he saw in a book and send them to the seven churches of Asia. Throughout the book of Revelation, the phrase, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and last.. the one who was, and is, and is to come." Skipping down to verse 12, John begins writing about his vision of the 7 lamps and how in their midst, the Son of God stood. Throughout the bible, the number 7 is used to portray holiness, and this is especially evident in the book of revelation. Many people do not understand why 7 is so special. Here's why: when man began to analyze and combine numbers, he developed interesting symbols. He took the perfect world number FOUR and added to it the perfect divine number, THREE, and got SEVEN, the most sacred number to the Hebrews. It was earth crowned with heaven -- the four-square, the four corners of earth, plus the divine trinity which then symbolizes COMPLETENESS OF GOD. So we have SEVEN expressing COMPLETENESS through union of earth with heaven. In verse 20, Jesus tells John that the stars represent the 7 angels of the 7 churches of Asia and the 7 keys as the actual churches of Asia.  Now, John descibes Jesus as:

¹⁴His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;

¹⁵His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters.

Now here's the tricky part:

¹⁶He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

Now, when people SKIP this verse, they are missing a very important peice of prophecy. That double-edged sword, was not LITERALLY a sword coming out of his mouth. They were WORDS. Yes, WORDS. If you stop and think about what that means you could understand that words are LIKE a double-edged sword. In this context, the sword represented the words of Jesus when he was alive on earth. On one hand, Jesus's words cut through the enemy, Satan. He destroyed his power when he rose from the grave, which He tells John in verse 18, and healed countless people and performed miracles. On the contrast, His words are twisted by the enemy, and the enemy is not nessesarily supernatural. Everyday we see in the news, and in the media, of how Jesus's words are being twisted or ignored by the people. THAT is the double-edged sword that Jesus wielded.

------End of Chapter 1------