20250605

the age before the future

Revelation 6:1-17

Revelation 6:1 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four animals say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”
Revelation 6:2 I looked and noticed a white horse. Its rider held a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.
Revelation 6:3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second animal say, “Come!”
Revelation 6:4 Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its rider was allowed to take peace from the land, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.
Revelation 6:5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third animal say, “Come!” And I looked and noticed a black horse. Its rider held a set of scales in his hand.
Revelation 6:6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four animals say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not wrong the oil and the wine.”
Revelation 6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal say, “Come!”
Revelation 6:8 And I looked and noticed a pale green horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following after him. They were given authority over a fourth of the land, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the land.
Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the throats of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.
Revelation 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the one who is sacred and true, how long until you judge those who live on the land and avenge our blood?”
Revelation 6:11 So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
Revelation 6:12 Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood;
Revelation 6:13 the stars of the sky fell to the land as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind;
Revelation 6:14 the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the land, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
Revelation 6:16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Revelation 6:17 because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”

the age before the future

The four chariots of Zechariah 6 represent spying out the land, but the four horses of Revelation 6 are war horses. They represent attacks against the whole earth. This chapter parallels Jesus’ descriptions of this age of tribulation that will continue until his second coming. The saints are not delivered from this tribulation, but endure it. Those who pay the ultimate price for their faith (martyrdom) are told to continue resting (in their graves) until the whole number of martyrs should be complete (11). This age ends with the population hiding in fear from the wrath of the Lamb. The future will be a time of blessing for those ransomed by the Lamb, but a time of wrath and destruction for all others.

LORD, give us the wisdom and courage to reach out to the enemies of the Lamb, so that they do not have to face his terrible wrath.