The Fourth Seal (cont.)
The Caesars
Pupienus Balbinus AD238On hearing the news of the defeat of the Gordians, the Senate hurriedly elected two men—Pupienus, a Senator, and Balbinus, a patrician—as co-regents. Pupienus marched against Maximinus and recruited German auxi…
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The history of the Roman Empire can be divided into three distinct periods, beginning with the time of the Kings (625–510BC). Republican Rome (510–31BC) ended with the assassination of Julius Caesar and the ascension of Augustus (27BC). This marked the period known as Imperial Rome (to AD476).
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The fourth seal
Jesus, the Lamb (6:1), opens the fourth seal and the fourth of the living creatures calls on John to witness the fourth horse and the rider named (v8) “Death”.
Pale horse
The Greek for the phrase “pale horse” is hippos chloros. From this word, chloros,…
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This black horse seal period was marked by mourning, distress, famine and plague. The impact of the general violence, bloodshed and brutality of the Caesars and the Praetorian military class was felt by the whole of Roman society, Patrician and Plebeian, Roman or Barbarian, Pagan or Christian.
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“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.” (Rev 6:5 ESV)
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The relative peace in the Roman heavenlies of the white horse seal epoch ends suddenly in the madness and vice of Commodus. After surviving an assassination attempt in the third year of his reign, treachery, murder and bloodshed become the theme of Commodus’ rule and the subsequent age.
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“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.” (Rev 6:3-4 ESV)
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The first seal
“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.” (Rev 6:1-2 ESV)
The white horse
Brethren Barker and Boulton[1] wrote: “The horse is intended to indicate that the events represented by the symbols were to take place within the Roman Empire. Roman coins bearing the figure of a horse and the word ‘Roma’ are referred to as supporting this view…[So] the horses of the first four seals cannot represent Rome, but certain forces which were to be in active operation against…the Roman Empire, ‘the earth’. The colours of the horses representing the character of the events rather than the state of the Empire”.
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The Apostle Peter wrote in his second letter about the enduring power and value of the prophetic word and the divine operation of the Holy Spirit on its authors.
“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:19-21 ESV)[1].
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