Rest a Little Longer: Daily Thoughts from Revelation (Revelation 6)

Few modern martyrs have changed the world by their deaths more than Jim Elliot, the missionary to Ecuador who was killed by the Auca or Huaorani natives in 1956. He had written in his Bible journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” His heart for missions was captured by his widow in her book Through Gates of Splendor and fueled the missionary movement.

As the Lamb who was slain begins to open the sealed judgments of God it becomes apparent that the outpouring of God’s wrath will also be attended by the wrath of Satan and man against God’s beloved saints.  Persecution is coming.

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be 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 wine!”

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6 ESV)

If we conceive of this scroll as having seven seals along the leading edge that must be broken before it can be opened, it suggests that these riders who come forth as each seal is broken are anticipations of what God is going to do through judgment, or perhaps the beginning of judgments on the earth.  The first two riders bring war and conflict, which leads to the famine the third one brings.  But there are limits given this rider (the oil and wine must be protected).  Then the fourth rider brings death by all kinds of means.

The fifth seal does not call forth a judgment but a reminder to those who have died for their faith that they have many brothers and sisters who must also face this level of persecution before God avenges their deaths.  Then the sixth seal depicts what seem to be natural disasters that bring terror on earth’s inhabitants who do not know the Lamb.  They recognize that this is the wrath of the Father and the Son come upon them.

The scene is being set for this period of what Jesus called (Matthew 24:21) the great tribulation or distress.  It lasts a period of 3 and a half years, alternately counted as 1260 days or 42 months, or times, time and half a time.  Interspersed between outpourings of judgment will be characterizations of how believers and unbelievers will be experiencing these days.

Despite the fact that the focus of these seals is judgment, and that judgment is focused on unbelievers, it is stirring and frightening that a huge part of this era will be unparalleled persecution of believers. We will see this theme visited over and over again throughout the Revelation. In a real way it is these persecuted believers and martyrs who are the heroes of this story. God has extraordinary praise and love for those who are faithful even to death.