At the end of the seventh seal, seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets, unleashing judgment on the “inhabitants of the earth” – Revelation 8:1-6.
The saints have been “sealed,” washed “in the blood of the Lamb,” and brought safely through the “great tribulation.” The full complement of “witnesses” has been numbered and assembled, and the time has arrived for judgment to be rendered against the “inhabitants of the earth” that persecuted the martyrs. Their plea for “vengeance” is about to be answered.
OVERVIEW – The sixth seal ushered in the Day of the Lord, the time of wrath upon the inhabitants of the earth, and Who can stand? – Revelation 6:12-17.
Next, the “Lamb” opened the sixth seal, which caused celestial and terrestrial trauma as the “day of wrath” dawned. This was nothing less than the “great day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb.” Men from every societal rank panicked, but every attempt by the “inhabitants of the earth” to hide from the wrath of the “Lamb” and the “One Who sits on the Throne” was in vain. There was no escape, for no one could “stand” before the onset of that day.
The fifth seal revealed the souls of martyrs kept underneath the altar where they pleaded with God for vindication and justice – Revelation 6:9-11.
The opening of the fifth seal reveals the souls of the martyrs “underneath” the altar. There, they plead with God for vindication for what they have endured at the hands of their enemies. But they are told to wait for justice until the complete number of their “fellow servants” who are to be slain, “just as they,” are gathered to join them.
The fourth seal released “Death,” followed by “Hades” to gather the dead in its wake – Revelation 6:7-8.
To this point, the “victims” harmed by the first three seal openings have not been identified, although the details from the assigned task of each “rider” provide certain clues. Nothing has been said about the enemies of the “Lamb,” or about judgments against the “inhabitants of the earth.” Moreover, the actions of the “four riders” are never labeled “plagues,” “wrath,” or “judgments.”
The third seal released a rider on a black horse and economic hardship– Revelation 6:5-6.
The “Lamb” opened the third “seal,” and once again, one of the “four living creatures” summoned its rider, this one riding a “black horse” that, apparently, represented economic distress and food shortages. As before, the task of the rider was declared by one of the four “living creatures,” as well as the limitations on its effects (“the oil and the wine do not harm”).
The second rider was sent to “remove peace from the earth” and to cause men to “slay one another” – Revelation 6:3-4.
As with the first rider, the second one was commanded by one of the four “living creatures” to “go forth.” Although each seal is opened by the “Lamb,” the involvement of the “four living creatures” serves to emphasize that heaven remains in firm control over the earthly events represented by each “rider.”
Disciples Global Network 