Revelation 6:7-8 “When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see." (8) So, I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”
In this section we want to discuss the opening of the fourth and fifth seals and what impact that will have on the earth. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when Jesus opened the fourth seal of the scroll, the apostle John was shown a vision of an angel sitting on a pale horse. Unlike the first three angels mentioned however, this angel’s name is given to us, i.e. his name is Death. Specifically in the book of Revelation whenever Death is mentioned, Hades is mentioned as being with him and in this instance it is no different, for in this vision John saw Hades following behind Death. We see in this passage that Death has been given authority to kill a fourth of mankind and to cast them into Hades. So how are we to interpret this passage? It cannot mean that Death has been given authority to kill only one quarter of mankind, for clearly he has been responsible for the deaths of all of mankind up until this present time. Since the time of Adam there have been approximately one hundred billion people born into the earth, and the earth’s current population is about eight billion people. And so we see that the vast majority of people born into the earth have already been killed by Death, i.e. ninety two billion or ninety two percent. This passage also cannot mean that only one quarter killed are cast into Hades while the rest ascend into heaven, for the Lord Jesus has taught us that the reverse is in fact true i.e. most go to Hades and few go to heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). And so we see that most of those who have died have descended into Hades, while the rest have ascended into heaven. Clearly the number who have descended into Hades far exceeds the one fourth mentioned in this passage of scripture. Therefore the most logical explanation for this passage is that it refers to a future event that will take place in the earth, in which Death will kill at least one quarter of the earth’s population over a relatively short period of time. There is a future event which will take place with the sounding of the sixth trumpet, in which one third of mankind will be killed at one time; we will discuss that event in more detail later in this series. Obviously that number exceeds the one quarter referred to in this passage, and so this passage must be referring to some other future event. Such an event, in which it is quite possible that at least one fourth of the earth’s population (approximately two billion people) could be killed at one time, would be nuclear war. To that end, events shown to the prophet Daniel clearly reveal to us that toward the end of the age, a global conflict will break out in the earth inflicting a death toll on an unprecedented scale (Daniel 7). And so we see that as we draw closer to the end of the age it is entirely possible that nuclear war will break out in the earth, in which approximately two billion people will be killed with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Such an event, i.e. global nuclear war, will take place long before the events discussed in this series however, and so we will not discuss it here.
Revelation 6:9-11 “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. (10) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (11) Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when Jesus opened the fifth seal of the scroll, the apostle John was shown a vision of the Lord’s martyrs under the altar of God. In this vision John would have seen all the Lord’s saints who had been killed for their righteous testimony, beginning with Able up to and including John’s fellow apostles who had also been martyred for the Lord. It was revealed to John in this vision that many martyrs still had to be added to their number, and we have certainly seen that come to pass over the past millennia. A number of truths are revealed to us in this vision. Firstly, we see that these saints are kept separate from the rest of the saints in heaven, for they are kept under the altar of God. The reason for that is because the Lord’s martyrs are destined for great reward on their day of judgement. Secondly, we see that there is a finite number to the Lord’s martyrs and that number has not yet been reached. Thirdly, we see that Jesus opened this seal after He was raised from the dead, for it was only then that the Lord’s martyrs received their white robes. The reason for that is because it was only after Jesus was raised from the dead that the saints could wash their robes white in His cleansing blood. Fourthly, we see that God’s wrath has not yet been poured out on the earth, because these saints ask how long it would be until the Lord avenged their blood on those who dwell on the earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments