CHAPTER 6

When we come to Chapter 6, we are going to see the beginning of the tribulation. The Body of Christ (the church) has been caught up into heaven and John was in the third heaven looking down at the tribulation period. In Chapters Two and Three, the seven Jewish churches have been established with angels as their head. Also John got to see the second coming of the Lord Jesus Chris in Chapter One. Chapter 4 and 5 we saw John taken unto the third heaven and the description of what he saw in heaven He saw the 4 beast around the throne and the four and twenty elders casting their crowns before Him. Chapter 5, John sees the Lord Jesus Christ take the book with the seven seals and begin to open the seals. As each seal was opened, the events which follow takes place on the earth. Revelation Chapter 6 thru 19 is called “Daniel’s Seventieth Week.” Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. This period of time is also called the Great Tribulation Period or Jacob’s trouble because the wrath of God is poured out. Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Revelation 6:1 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.

The first beast, which is described in Revelation 4:7 as a Lion tells John to come and see what is going to happen when the first seal is opened.

Revelation 6:2 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.

This is the beginning of the prophecy found in Daniel Chapter 9, when we compare the white horse rider here with the white horse rider in Revelation Chapter 19, we can see that the white horse rider here in Chapter 6 is the antichrist and the white horse rider in Chapter 19 is the Lord Jesus Christ. The white horse rider in Chapter 6 is followed by death, Hell and famine. He has a bow with no arrows, which is a sign of peace and he has only one crown that was given him. The white hose rider in Chapter 19 has many crowns (Rev 19:12) and the armies of heaven follow Him (Rev 19:15) and He has a sharp two-edged sword that goes out of His mouth and He is coming to judge and make war. Satan tries to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ in every thing he does. There is only one thing that Satan has not been able to imitate and that is the resurrection and he will accomplish that when the antichrist is resurrected out of the bottomless pit.

Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

In the scriptures, Satan is the most perfect imitator of the Lord Jesus Christ:

1. Jesus has a city that is a bride. (Rev 21:9). Satan has a city that is a bride (Rev 17:18).

2. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). Satan is called an angel of light (II Cor 11:14).

3. Jesus is King of Kings (Rev 19:16) Satan is king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34).

4. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6). Satan is called the prince and power of the air (Eph 2:2).

5. Jesus is called my Lord and my God (John 20:28). Satan is called the god of this world (II Cor 4:4).

6. Jesus is called the Lion of the Tribe of Juda (Rev 5:5). Satan is called a lion (I Peter 5:8).

Revelation 6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

The second beast, which is described as a calf, tells John to come and see what is going to happen when the second seal is opened. Note: The color or the horses are different but the rider is the same.

Revelation 6:4 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.

The red hose rider takes peace from the earth with a word and much bloodshed will happen. Red is the color of blood and war will follow this rider. Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Revelation 6:5 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.

Revelation 6:6 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.

The third beast, which is described as a man , tells John to come and see what is going to happen when the third seal is opened. After war and famine, the black horse rider rides in with a balance, which is used to measure food. The cost of food is described as being a day’s work for food for a day. He is told not to hurt the oil and the wine for they will be reserved for the rich, who will persecute the poor.

Revelation 6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

Revelation 6:8 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.

The fourth beast, which is described as an Eagle, tells John to come and see what will happen when the fourth seal is opened. The pale horse rider is given a name and his name was Death. God has given Satan the power of death. Satan or one of his angels carried out the actual death of these people. He is called the death angel and the destroyer. Exodus 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Death come first and then hell follow. Compare this with what the Lord Jesus Christ does in reverse. Hell is what people are going to get if they don’t trust what He did on the cross and then death follows. Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Revelation 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:

Revelation 6:10 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?

Revelation 6:11 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 fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

John sees the souls that were under the alter in the third heaven. These are the ones that would not take the mark of the beast and they get their head s cut off. This a post tribulation rapture of the saints during the tribulation period not the Body of Christ. These are the saints we read about that are before the throne. Revelation 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 6:12 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;

God puts a cover the sun and it becomes black “as” sackcloth. Note, this is a figure of speech. Also the moon becomes “as” blood. He covers the sun with a cloud and the little light from the sun that does reflect on the moon makes it look like blood. Ezekiel 32:7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

Revelation 6:13 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.

Here John see angels fall onto the earth these are not real stars or the earth would be destroyed. An example of this can be found in the definition of stars given in Chapter One. Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

Revelation 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

He rolls back the heaven so they can see Him sitting on a throne. Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. Isaiah 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: There are two appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, one is where He is sitting and the other is when He comes in the clouds. Mark 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Psalms 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

Revelation 6:15 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;

Revelation 6:16 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:

Note, These people are hiding and are not part of a army that is ready to fight the Lord when He comes. He is sitting on a throne when they see Him. Here He is not coming back to judge and make war. When He does come back He will gather them together into a place called Armageddon. Revelation 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Revelation 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

John sees the Lord’s Day, which is the day of wrath as described in Revelation Chapter One. He sees the wrath being poured out upon the earth and all the things that happens from day one of the tribulation period until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Book of Revelation gives four account of what is going on during the tribulation period.

1. The first account is found in Chapter 5 and 6, the six seal judgments. Chapter 7 is parenthetical.

2. The second account is found in Chapter 8:1 which ends the seven seal judgments. Chapter 8:2, 9, 10 and 11:15 are the seven trumpets judgments. .

3. The third account is found in Chapters 12, 13, and 14. The activities of the antichrist.

4. The fourth account is found in Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. The seven vials judgments, the destruction of Babylon and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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