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3/25/12 - Prelude to Forevermore (Rev 6:1-17)

March 25, 2012
Prelude to Forevermore
Revelation 6:1-17
 
In this section of Revelation, an overture to eternity, John described what happened when the Lamb broke open the first six seals.  The themes presented here continue throughout much of Revelation. What themes did the first recipients hear?  Are we listening today?

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Theme One: Strife
1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
 
Do I promote a spirit of strife?
 
Theme Two: Warfare
3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." 4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
 
How do I really look at people: with contempt; with prejudice; with bitterness; with resentment?
 
See also Matthew 5:21-26, 38-48; Ephesians 4:25-32; Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 4:7-11
 
Theme Three: Scarcity
5 When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
 
Do I have a profound sense of gratitude to God for everything He’s given, and do I readily share?
 
Theme Four: Death
7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come."
8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
 
Have I become completely calloused to the death I see all around me?
 
Theme Five: Persecution
9 When the Lamb broke the fifthseal, I sawunderneath the altar the souls of those who had been slainbecause of the word of God, and because of the testimonywhich they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
 
Do I live for my glory or for God’s glory?
 
See also Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:31-38; Luke 9:18-27; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Revelation 1:9-10; 2:9, 13
 
Theme Six: Wrath
12 I lookedwhen He broke the sixthseal, and there was a greatearthquake; and the sunbecameblack as sackcloth made of hair, and the wholemoonbecamelikeblood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
 
Does God’s certain judgment rock my complacency?
 
See also Joel 1:14-20; 2:1-17, 30-32; 3:14-21; Obadiah 1:15-21; Zephaniah 1:7, 14-18; 2:3; 3:8
 
 
Commentary on Revelation Chapter Six

Everything narrated about the scroll in chapters 4 and 5 points to its significance in the unfolding drama: its being in God’s right hand; its role in both the introduction of and praise to the Lamb; John’s dramatic weeping.  At stake, of course, is what has been narrated in the letters to the seven churches, where there is constant warning of an impending trial and the repeated promise that the faithful will be victors.  The drama itself will unfold with the opening of the seventh seal in 8:1. So to heighten the drama, John has chosen to use the opening of the seven seals as a means for communicating the reason for the (necessary) divine intervention that will come later.  Thus the present material functions very much like the overture of an opera: all the major themes that will appear in the opera are woven together into a (hopefully) captivating invitation to listen to the rest.  So in this case all the major themes of the “divine drama” are here presented in a sequential way through the four horsemen, the martyrs, and finally the earthquake.  The rest of the book will provide the actual drama that spells out the story.
 
~ Gordon D. Fee, Revelation, p. 91.
 
 
 
Each of the judgments (seals, trumpets, bowls) includes seven parts.  The first four judgments involve natural disasters on the earth: the last three are cosmic disasters.  There are three views about how to understand this series of judgments—seals, trumpets, bowls:
 
1. Recapitulation View. According to this view, the three sets of judgments repeat each other (are cyclical); they present three ways of viewing the same judgments.  Because the trumpets and the bowls have the same order, many have concluded that the three sets are repetitive.  In addition, in all three sets, the first four of the seven judgments are very similar, as are the last three of each set of seven.  Exact repetition, however, occurs only in the trumpets and bowls.
2. Consecutive View. This view holds that judgments will follow in the order described in Revelation: first the seals, then the trumpets, then the bowls—in other words, Revelation is describing twenty-one separate events.  Thus, chapters 6-16 in Revelation would be chronological.
3. Progressive Intensification View. The key to this view is understanding the results of the judgments.  The seals destroy one-fourth of the earth; the trumpets destroy one-third; the bowls affect everything.  The picture seems to be one of progressive intensity, with each of these sets of judgments ending in the same place—that is, the end of history.
 
~ Bruce B. Barton, et. al., Revelation: Life Application Bible Commentary, p. 69-70.
 
 
 
Jesus spoke of giving up possessions as much as proves necessary to care for other’s needs, because our brothers and sisters matter more than possessions do (Luke 12:33; 14:33).  Unlike the rich man who was judged for letting Lazarus starve at his doorstep, however (Luke 16:25), few of us could be judged for letting a poor person starve at our doorstep—but only because in our society we would not let someone that poor get near our doorstep.
~ Craig S. Keener, Revelation: The NIV Application Commentary, p. 215.
The very suffering of the righteous cries out for vengeance, and the cry of the martyrs here is ultimately a cry for justice, a plea for vindication, answered in God’s judgments on a sinful world (Rev. 8:4-6; 16:6) and ultimately by his final judgment (6:12-17; 18:21;, 24; 19:2).  Releasing the debts of our individual enemies does not mean that we need to quit hoping for vindication, provided that we are hoping more for that vindication by their personal repentance than their deaths, for God himself prefers their repentance (Ezek. 18:23). In contrast to the one-sided ethics of many Christians today, this is a cry for justice and the overthrow of evil, a New Testament as well as Old Testament concept.
 
~ Craig S. Keener, Revelation: The NIV Application Commentary, p. 215.
 
 
 
These martyrs, in turn, called out in a loud voice the first of the two leading questions that anticipate the rest of the book.  The address itself, Sovereign Lord, is language from the Septuagint, used most likely in this case as a Christian affirmation about the living God vis-á-vis the emperor.  As much as Vespasian may have wished to think of himself as the “sovereign lord” of his vast empire, that empire nonetheless had known boundaries that limited his actual sovereignty, whereas there are no such limitations to the living God.  The addition of holy and true, which occurs only here in the Bible in this combination, is nonetheless language used in descriptions about God that can be found throughout the Old Testament. “Holy” describes God’s eternal character; “true” reminds the readers of God’s veracity.  In this case, the description is especially relevant to the prayer itself, which appeals to that veracity in light of the present martyrdoms.  Thus their question is not one of if or whether, but in keeping with the Psalmists, it is when (see Psalm 13:1; 79:5; 89:46; 90:13; 119:84; cf. Isa. 6:11 and Zech 1:12), since God’s holiness and trustworthiness are foundational to their expectation of judgment on those responsible for their deaths.
 
~ Gordon D. Fee, Revelation, p. 97-98.
 
 
Quotes
 
If your own sin and mortality do not drive you to seriously consider Jesus Christ, no interpretation of Revelation will likely breach your defenses.
~ Neil Wilson
 
 
The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.
~ T.S. Eliot
 
 
God is sovereign in his judgments, summoning the world’s attention.  We dare not grow comfortable with this world, which is not our home.
~ Craig S. Keener
 
 
Suffering is unpleasant, but it is nearly universal, and we must be prepared for it.
~ Craig S. Keener
 
 
Those of us with a vision to reach the world for Christ must begin investing in a younger, increasingly multicultural generation, equipping them for sacrificial leadership.  The younger leaders must begin preaching a biblical gospel from which some (with notable exceptions) in the present generation have shrunk from preaching: The gospel is worth our lives and all we have, and no cost is too great to reach the world for Jesus Christ our Lord.
~ Craig S. Keener
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