A recent output from Craig Cooney https://dailyprophetic.com/ in his 'The Threshold' series on the Four Horses of Revelation 6 got me thinking again about that whole chapter.

The theme was a rather different to Craig's material I have encountered previously, although it ends with a word of Prophetic Encouragement with personal application.

Anyway, back to the theme of this article from Revelation 6. Another opportunity to display my ignorance of (or lack of interest in) eschatology!

My simple view can be summarised as follows:

• The prophecies about the return of Jesus will be fulfilled in the same way that those of His first coming were fulfilled.
• Their fulfillment will be accompanied by exclamations of 'This is that which the prophets spoke about...' like Peter exclaimed on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16).
  An example would be the post 1867 return of the Jews to the land of Israel Matthew 24:32-33; Isaiah 11:12.
• The book of Revelation is profitable for study - 'Blessed is the one who reads, blessed are those who hear ...' (Revelation 1:3).
• In the meantime how should I be living?
  Will Jesus find me faithful with the responsibilities He has entrusted me with?
  Do I work for the good of the place where Jesus has placed me (Jeremiah 29:7) or do I live as if there is no tomorrow (Jeremiah 29:5-6)?
• And you can correctly infer from the above that I do not care about 'The Rapture' - unnecessary diversion.
  God is for me and not against me.

So these seven seals.

To me the first six (Revelation 6:2-13) seals summarise the world I see around me.
The period covers starts from Genesis 3 - see Romans 8:33; Matthew 23:37; Hebrews 12:24.

Both Jesus (Matthew 24) and Paul (Romans 8:22) suggest that the things described will grow in frequency and intensity until the end - like birth pains.

Seals 1-6 (Revelation 6)

Revelation 6:2 White horse and a conquering rider.
To me this is a picture of false religion, as characterised by Eastern Temples.
Contrast with the picture of Jesus in Revelation 19:11-16, also on a white horse.
Here the conquering rider is wearing a conqueror's crown, not a crown of royalty.
He demands allegiance and honour but does nothing to deserve it (Revelation 19:12; Revelation 14:6-7).
The bow speaks of falsehood / deceipt. See Hosea 7:16; Jeremiah 9:3.
There are no arrows for the bow, that speaks of all show and no power - spreads fear.

Revelation 6:4 Red horse and war.
This is broader than political nation versus political nation.
It is also more personal then ethnic group versus ethnic group.
See also Matthew 24:7,Mark 13:8,Luke 21:11.

Revelation 6:5-6 Black horse and social injustice
We see this both between political nations / ethnic groups and within political nations / ethnic groups.

Revelation 6:7-8 Pale horse and death.
Is this a reasonable statistic / guesstimate - 'the lives of those living in a fourth of the earth are characterised as being traumatised by sword, famine, plague and wild beasts'? Not that such do not affect all to some degree, but what places spring readily to mind when sword, famine, plague and wild beasts are mentioned?

On the fifth seal in Revelation 6:9-11 our attention is drawn to the prayers of the saints (which takes us back to the time of Abel Genesis 4).
Particular mention is made of those who have been martyred because of their testimony, but many others echo that cry 'How long'!
This reminds me of the Lord's timetable as explained in 2 Peter 3:8-9.
In Ephesians 1:21-24 Paul expressed a similar cry of 'How long', but he understood things from the perspective of having eternity's values in view.
I am reminded of the overcomers of Revelation 12:11 and of James 1:12.
* Blood of the lamb - done, legal right to approach God's throne of grace Hebrews 4:16
* Word of testimony - declare the goodness of God, answer Satan's slur on God's character in Genesis 3:4-5.
* Do not shrink back from maintaining the testimony in the face of 'apparent' evidence to the contrary.

On the sixth seal in Revelation 6:12-13 we see creation groaning.
Revelation 6:12 speaks of earthquakes and what sounds to me like volcanic ash.
Nothing unusual here, happened throughout history.
My earlier reference to birth pains suggests these natural events (and actions of the 4 horsemen) will grow in frequency and intensity.
Jesus spoke of People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Luke 21:16
Revelation 16:15 alludes to this - collapse of social order.

Revelation 6:13 speaks of the stars in the sky falling to earth.
The same prophecy can be found in Mark 13:25; Isaiah 34:4.
Out of the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses ... a different context but does principle of Deuteronomy 19:15 apply?
I suspect this refers to something natural, like asteroids, but again with increasing frequency. Could the growing cloud of artificial satellites add to the spectacular display?

Revelation 6:14 reminds me of the earth movements suggested in Genesis 7:11 and pointed to by the global flood geological record.
The sky receding - what is John seeing here? Night time view of the Milky Way galaxy receding?

Seal 7 (Revelation 8)

The climax of history and God's purposes.

There was silence in heaven for around 30 minutes - awesome!
We had already been introduced to heaven as a noisy place (Revelation 4,5) but it really went wild when a great multitude from every nation, who had lived through the first 6 seals, arrived (Revelation 8)!

Then silence waiting for the fulfillment of God's purposes to be revealed.
Silence ... maybe indication that I have said enough for now.

Except to leave you with this challenge...
Would you like to live in a place of no hunger, no thirst, no tears and fed by living springs of water? (Revelation 7:14-17).
"I don't believe that stuff" you say, then what do you believe in?
What evidence do you have that what you believe is reality?