Revelation 6 Commentary

Before assessing the historical context of Revelation chapter 6, one cannot arrive at the truth of these seals, in the solidity of their mind, and their application to the history of the Pagan Roman Empire, without the uttermost respect to the humility of considering ALL the pieces of the puzzle of the timeline of Revelation and not just examination of this chapter 6. All pieces are linked below for one's assessment of the whole picture of prophecy and not just this little chapter 6 snippet of history. The author carefully considers the whole of God's word and history and not just in part.

6 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.

In the Historicist view of prophecy this was a time of about the first to second century, when the Roman Empire greatly prospered. Their military parades were celebrated with the riding of white horses. The bow may represent the famed Cretan Dynasty, who were known throughout the empire as being the greatest skilled archers, who were used by the Roman Empire to do its exploits.

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.

This matches what was going on in the Roman Empire in the third century.

“With Commodus’ death commenced a most calamitous period. It lasted ninety two years, from AD 193 to 284. During that time, 32 emperors, and 27 pretenders to the empire, alternately hurled each other from the throne by incessant civil warfare”

History of the Fall of the Roman Empire (1834), Jean Charles Leonard de Sismondi

That they should kill one another, describes well this civil war era of the Roman Empire.

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.

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.

This third seal era describes the economic collapse and depression that took hold of the Empire. It had so taxed itself, that it lead to great economic depression, so people would then pay their taxes by offering wheat, barley, olive oil and grapes or wine. Hurt not the oil and wine meant to not be unjust to them in paying tax; not to raise their price to compensate.

The most wealthy families were ruined by partial fines and confiscations, and the great body of his (Emperor Antoninus) subjects oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Vol 1, pg 174

The empire had so taxed itself that farmers were no longer incentivized to produce, which lead to famine and pestilence. The darkness of the black horse rode over the empire and its people.

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. 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.

As discussed in my other commentaries, this is not referring to the entire earth, but to all of those in the known world of the Roman Empire. Hebrew hyperbole/metaphor often communicates in exaggerated ways symbolically.

There was a time of tremendous death in the Empire from AD 250 to 300.

Famine is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must however have contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year two hundred and fifty to the year two hundred and sixty five, raged without interruption n every province, evert city, and almost every family, of the Roman Empire. During some time, five thousand persons died daily in Rome, and many towns, that had escaped the hands of the barbarians, were entirely depopulated.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Vol , pg 180

In Vision of the Ages (1881), Barton Johnson says, The prophet asserts that one fourth of mankind would be destroyed… The prophet names the sword, famine, pestilence and beasts of the field as instruments of destruction. The historian affirms that half the human race were destroyed by the first three of these agencies, but fails to mention the fourth. We might, without historical proof, dare to asset that on the terrible depopulation of large districts, the beasts of prey, wolves, hyenas, and lions would so multiply as to become objects of terror, but we are not left to this necessity.

Beasts of the earth in Rev 6:8 is mentioned as playing one of the major roles in killing people. It can be said with great confidence, that no such a situation exists today. In fact, in the WW3 tribulation to come, there will not be enough beasts around to be hunted to feed the now much larger, well armed population. This further proves this historical view fulfillment and is a major witness against the Futurist view of Rev 6.

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:

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?

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 Roman Empire started blaming Christians for their ill fate because they would not worship their angry Roman Gods. The Diocletian Persecution of AD 303-313 was the most brutal of all persecutions on record to date. They were hunting down Christians without measure. This is also shown in the 10 day/year time given in Revelation 2:10, fulfilled in the AD 303-313 Diocletian Persecution.

The resentment or the fears of Diocletian at length transported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series of edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name. Horae Apocalypticae Edward Gibbon Vol. - pg 164

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;

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 Genesis 37 we read of the symbolism of what a Sun, moon and stars represent, in the dream of Joseph, in which the Sun, represented his Father, moon his Mother and the stars, his brothers. We also see this symbolism used in Isayah 13:10 and Ezekiel 32:7. In the context of this sixth seal, it is speaking of the leadership of the Empire falling.

Too often, western minded literalists are mistaking an earthquake here and the sun, moon and stars falling as literal events, when they represent tremendous change. An earthquake represents huge political upheaval and the great earthquake here is the time of when in AD 285, Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into two parts, into the east and western parts. Its also the time when Diocletian was defeated by Constantine, who then became emperor after defeating Western Emperor Maxentius to become the sole ruler of the empire. The leadership of the empire was in sudden upheaval and overthrow by the forces of Constantine.

In Horae Apocalypticae, Edward Bishop Elliot says, “In the sixth unsealing, a complete breakdown of the natural world occurred from which rich and poor flee in terror. No earthly foe caused their panic. Constantius, the father of Constantine appointed “Constantine the Great” as his successor. This prince was already known to favor Christians, while yet Maxentius was in possession od Rome – the son of the persecuting Emperor, Maximian.

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

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;

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?

Western literalists are unaware that the great day of his wrath is come spoken here, is not the end time judgment, but is the judgment upon the Roman Empire here at this point in history. For them, it was the great day of his wrath, as more often than not, God uses men and their ambitions to judge other men more wicked when their sin has reached its full, and Constantine here, overthrowing both emperors of the West and East, was quite the Empire earthquake upheaval.

With so many other events yet to transpire in chapters 7 through 20, how can an honest theologian think this is the end time judgment day? It is because they have not the knowledge of the timelines given throughout the chapters of Revelation.

Those timelines are shown throughout these links, especially in the Revelation 9 commentary.

Link List

Main Site 6000thyear.com

Historicism prophecybase.com

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Revelation Commentary – All is fulfilled up to Rev 1 7