The stage is set, all of the players are present, God’s testament is ready to be revealed, the Lamb has it in His hand and the first seal is opened:

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. (6:1-2)

In Scripture, a horse is usually indicative of war. Remember that when a king comes in peace he rides a donkey, when he comes in conquest he rides a horse. This horse is white, the color of purity and holiness as we have already seen more than once. As always, as we try to understand these apocalyptic texts, we search the Scriptures for parallels. We see something similar in Zech. 1:7-15; 6:1-8, but we see an even better parallel in Rev. 19:11…

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

We also have seen the crown before in our study, the victor’s crown that was given to the overcomers among the seven churches, and to the 24 elders who surround the throne of God in this very vision. “Overcoming”, “conquest” and “victory” have been all through the letters to the seven churches, thus I must conclude that this white horse and its rider represent the Lord as He goes out into this world conquering sin, death and Satan through the Gospel that is spread by and through His church. This may sound strange to us today, for we all too often see ourselves as being under some sort of attack from this or that, but the truth is, our side has the ball; we are the ones on the offensive with the Gospel, the other side is playing defense, trying to maintain the status quo of this world.

Yes, dear reader, we are now dealing entirely with spiritual warfare…

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. (6:3-4)

On the heels of the conquering Gospel comes trouble. Recalling the letters to the seven churches, which were the ones that we suffering from intense persecution? The answer is the ones that received great commendations from the Lord; the ones that received the greatest condemnation were the ones where persecution wasn’t mentioned… why do you suppose that would be? The answer is simple: They didn’t pose a threat for they were impotent spiritually. Here in our vision, we see the power of the governmental authorities being turned against those who accepted the Gospel in an attempt to quash it, to kill it. This is something we will see again in Revelation, and in Johns day it was an everyday occurrence.

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!” (6:5-6)

This horse represents economic persecution of the church, which we encountered in the letters.

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. (6:7-8)

This horse represents death in its various forms.

What we have up to this point is becoming clearer: The Gospel goes forth to conquer this world, and the world reacts, and as I have already mentioned, John’s original readers were quite familiar with the reaction. Governmental authorities seek to repress it by any means at their disposal, yet the Gospel continues to go forward. Various interests among the populace seek to repress it by economic or social means, but the Gospel goes forward. There will be all sorts of difficulties and sacrifices, but the Gospel goes forward. In all this, even in the darkest hour, God is in control of events, God is executing His redemptive plan, even though it may not seem like it. Then, the fifth seal is opened:

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.

(6:9-11)

Thus far, we have a bleak picture, so this is a very good time for me to remind you that we are not seeing heaven, we are seeing a vision that is there to communicate a message; this is not a literal and historical kind of account at all. When Jesus was with us, what did He promise His disciples that this earthly life would be like? Did He promise them that life would be like a bowl of cherries? No! He promised them that they (and we) would not be treated any differently than He had been, thus this life would be filled with trial, suffering and persecution, and that is what this vision is showing us so far.

6:9-11 is an interesting case. Compare it with Lev. 4. The bodies of sacrificed animals were burned on the altar, and their blood was poured out at the base of the altar. The life (or soul) of the animal was in the blood (Lev. 17:11). In these verses, we see the souls of martyred Christians under an altar, and with that, we can see that they were sacrificed for their testimony of Christ. This is not a sacrifice that is comparable with that of Christ, of course, but through their sacrifices, others have come to believe their testimony. They receive the white robes of purity and await the time when God will judge their oppressors, and that time will come when the next seal is opened.