I’m confident we can jump right in to the sixth chapter of Revelation as we’ve learned some of the most common questions to ask. As usual, we will be looking for insight in the culture (of the first-century Greco-Roman world) and the quoted Text (Hebrew Scriptures) within the teaching. First, let’s take a cursory look at the culture sitting just under the surface of this chapter:
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
This talk about conquest would ring loud in the ears of the early readers. A Roman conquest was built upon the words of Julius Ceasar: “Veni, vidi, vici.” — “I came. I saw. I conquered.” And a later Roman slogan was similar: “Piety. War. Victory. Peace.” This narrative of conquest would be known well by the original recipients of John’s letter.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
As the Lamb (see the discussion on the prior chapter of Revelation) continues to break open the seven seals on this scroll, the situation in the world progresses. The next horse is the red horse representing blood and the slaughter of mankind, one to another. Whether it’s the slaughter of war, the entertainment of the Romans (i.e., gladiators, the arena or colosseum, etc.), or the art that surrounds them, this is a fitting reference to the culture at large.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
As we discussed with Philadelphia, this is a reference that matches (exactly) the records we’ve found in biblical Asia. Building an empire is always done at a cost, and the price is often steep. The grain shortage felt throughout the Roman Empire was staggering.
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The reign of Rome — for people like the original hearers of Revelation — obviously culminates in death and what appears to be the victory of evil. John makes the fourth horse out to represent Death itself, and then tags on the Greek idea of Hades. This belief in the underworld and spawning place of evil would not only be a perfect cultural play, but would also serve as a fitting picture for this empire that bears down on the people who hear John’s message.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
Like we just said above, this Roman ideal leads to death — the slaughter of thousands upon thousands of believers. These are people who were unwilling to bend the knee to the emperor’s demands for worship — people who claimed to stand for a better gospel.
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
What discussion in this series hasn’t included a discussion about the major earthquakes that ravaged the region?
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
For the original readers, I believe the thing that would have stuck out to them about this paragraph is not the theological judgment of God, but the fact that this is a reality for all people — kings, princes, generals, the rich, the mighty, slave, free, and everyone else. In a world where it seems like judgment is reserved for the oppressed and wielded by the powerful, John writes about a greater truth that applies to all people, no matter who they are.
But now we must look for insight in our second source: Where is John getting his material?
Without a doubt, the chapter is built upon the image of Zechariah 6, written centuries earlier, with horses that match the same colorful descriptions. I’ve already used a lot of Text in this passage, but it would serve you well to read how Zechariah 6 ends. The message of Zechariah 6 is a stunning reference to followers of Jesus who are wondering if they should give up hope. They would hear a passage written to their ancestors — ancestors who made it through great persecution and found the rescue and redemption of God. And this is all before we mention the obvious implications of Jesus being “the Branch” talked about there.
When it comes to the talk about death, famine, and pestilence, would the readers immediately think of Hosea 13:24, Jeremiah 15:2–3, 24:10, or Ezekiel 5:17? It might be fitting if they did, since these references all come from apocalyptic encouragement, just like the passage above.
And when the slain martyrs of Revelation 6 cry out, do the readers think of Psalm 79 or Psalm 114 (particularly around verse 84)? Although we already gave references with Sardis to the great earthquake alluded to here, do the listeners also think of Isaiah 29 or Ezekiel 38 (see verse 19, specifically)? Doesn’t the context of Revelation 6 make so much more sense if we realize and remember that the Jewish listeners had Isaiah 34 memorized? (Compare Isaiah 34 with Revelation 6:12–14.)
My point is this: These people were not baffled by the contents of Revelation. The people there understood the immediate application to their immediate context. The Jewish listeners in their midst were equipped to expound on the teaching of John deliberately buried in his letter as a source of encouragement and exhortation. Please understand that the original readers would certainly not have projected these pictures and ideas into the future. These references were about their own brothers and sisters, uncles and cousins. The “souls of those who had been slain” were people they knew by name.
I believe one of the reasons you and I have a hard time interpreting and understanding the book of Revelation — the reason we immediately project its meaning into the future — is because we don’t know what it’s like to be on the side of true persecution. We don’t know what it’s like to sit on the other side of the Roman sword. We don’t know what it’s like to watch the systemic and premeditated pursuit and extermination of our fellowship. And it affects our ability to understand an apocalyptic letter written to a group of people who fear for their lives; we don’t know how to hear its message of perseverance and the call to remain vigilant and steadfast, even to the point of death.
Quite frankly, as a whole (I realize there are individuals in our midst who have endured great suffering; I have no intent to downplay that), we have spent most of our time at the handle end of the sword of oppression. We have fought for our own rights instead of pursuing the self-sacrificial way of Jesus. We’ve been more concerned with Starbucks cups, bathroom signs, and wedding cakes than we have been with anything that would have ever occupied the thoughts of those people who preserved the faith we too often misinterpret.
We have mistaken the loss of privilege for persecution.
There is a host of people slain under the altar in the book of Revelation who cry out for us to remember what they signed up for — what they gave their lives for. They didn’t give their lives so we could live comfortable American dreams and protect our privilege. They laid their lives down because it’s what their Rabbi did. He taught them how to trust in and live out a narrative of self-sacrifice.
It’s the story we’re invited to trust, too. May we honor their memory. More importantly, may we kiddush HaShem (“hallow the Name”).
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