Revelation 6:1-6 Three seals are opened, three judgments

Revelation 6:1-17 The seals on the book are now opened. In quick succession the first six seals are opened. The seventh seal is deferred (Rev 8). There seems to be a difference in type between the seal judgments and the trumpet and bowl judgments that come later. The seals being broken seem to imply the release of the consequences of sin. In God's great grace, the book of redemption protected humankind from the fruit of its folly. As God has unsuccessfully pleaded with mankind to forsake sin and worship and follow Him, He now lets it have its way.

          God is fair, and this dynamic plays itself out in every human life. God reveals His glory. The wondrous plan of redemption is laid out, and the choice is open. Whatever individual does not join God at that time, He begins to allow that person to experience the consequences of their sin, in hope that they will repent, or change their mind. And this plays itself out throughout our life as He does not give up until it is time for the final judgment.

          We see six seals opened. The events following are eclectic, but strike at all areas of human endeavor.

•    Revelation 6:1-2 The first seal results in a conqueror going forth on a white horse. One of the living creatures says, "Come," which suggests the divine permission that comes from opening the first seal. Later we shall see Jesus and His armies riding white horses (Rev 19:11-14), but this is not Jesus. The symbolism might be taken to suggest that this conqueror pretends to be righteous, the good guy, as in human culture the man on the white horse often stands for the hero who comes and rescues the afflicted and distressed. All of the great wars of human history have been led by leaders claiming to be great deliverers for their people, or to have, at the very least, a moral justification for conquest. Whether one is looking at Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, the Crusades, or Adolph Hitler, the facade is the same, and the outcome is always misery for humankind.

•    Revelation 6:3-4 The second seal with the second "Come" implies divine permission for the red horse and its rider to take peace from the earth. This implies that the first conqueror had successfully conquered without bloody wars. Perhaps as Hitler successfully occupied the Rhineland, annexed Austria, the Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia without significant battles. War really began in earnest when German armies attacked Poland, which refused to submit to German annexation. This passage suggests that a different conqueror will go out but his conquests will come with much bloodshed.  A great sword suggests a lot of killing.

•    Revelation 6:5-6 The third seal and the subsequent invitation brings an even larger disaster. Scales suggest commerce, and the voice from the center of the four living creatures suggests price fixing, or perhaps simply ruinously high prices for basic necessities, although luxuries like wine and oil are unaffected. Whether these high prices are the result of climatological catastrophes like drought, or economic catastrophes produced by terrible economic policies is probably less important. Global climate change could turn vast fields of crops into desert. Or governmental economic folly could simply destroy the market and the productivity of individuals, as for example, through collectivization of farms, or confiscatory taxation or inflation. Why the voice that suggests divine pricing?  Perhaps it is merely an artifice of drama, or perhaps it suggests that God, who had so frequently provided generously for those who acknowledge Him, simply turns the tables and allows the original curse (Genesis 3:17-19) to fall unchecked on the ground.

At this point we need to catch our breath. We don't know over what time period these events occur. But the question we want to ponder is what this means for God's dealing with individuals before the end times. For the person to whom God has invited and been spurned, He now begins a process of revealing what that decision really results in. First, the individual appears to have great success, in almost effortless success in their life. The next step is that is real damage in the process of pursuing their life, in the cost to others ... injured or ruined lives, betrayal, and so forth. Then there is economic hardship; it isn't going as planned and economic survival is at risk. There is no statement that economics or business are evil in and of themselves, but pursued apart from relationship with God, they are cursed, in the same sense that Adam's farming was in Genesis 3. And this is the curse, that on our own we are just not savvy enough to understand the spiritual dimensions of our endeavors, and they will ultimately fail. Ready to repent?

          In the four panel series of paintings titles the Voyage of Life, Thomas Cole depicts youth and manhood showing this dynamic. In youth, a young man sees a shining city in the distance and sets off in pursuit of it, evidently leaving his guardian angel behind. He is going on this quest on his own. In manhood, he is approaching rapids and is fervently praying, while an angel is observing from a distance. Perhaps he has reached the point of repentance as he is encountering the reality of life on his own terms.