See on ch. 4:1. The vision continues with the same setting presented in chs. 4 and 5, but a new phase of action now begins. The seals of the book (ch. 5:1-5) are being opened.

 See on ch. 5:6.

 The following statement throws light on the significance of the seals: “Their [the Jewish leaders] decision [to crucify Christ] was registered in the book which John saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne, the book which no man could open. In all its vindictiveness this decision will appear before them in the day when this book is unsealed by the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (COL 294). This statement shows that, among other things, the book records the actions of the Jews at the trial of Christ, and that in the great final judgment (see on ch. 20:11-15) these enemies of Christ will be confronted with the record of their evil deeds. It seems reasonable to conclude that the book contains a record also of other significant events in the great controversy through the ages. It appears that John was given a preview of certain of these events. In symbolic form the history of the great controversy was presented before him until it reaches its great climax in the vindication of God’s character at the time of the final judgment (ch. 20:11-15; see on ch. 5:13). The fact that Christ “prevailed to open the book” (ch. 5:5) means that He is conqueror in the controversy and Lord of history. Compare GC 666-672.

 Like the messages to the seven churches, the scenes revealed when the seals are opened may be regarded as having both a specific and a general application (see on ch. 1:11). The scenes may be viewed as particularly significant of successive phases in the history of the church on earth.

 See on ch. 4:6.

 Textual evidence is divided (cf. p. 10) as to whether the words “and see” should be included. If they are retained, the command is addressed to John; if not, it is addressed probably to the horse and his rider (v. 2), who, upon being addressed, come forth upon the scene of action. The same division of evidence appears in vs. 3, 5, 7.

 The symbols of the four horses in the first four seals (vs. 2-8) have often been compared with the four horses in Zechariah’s vision (Zech. 6:2, 3). There are some similarities in the symbolism employed, but there are also dissimilarities. The order in which the horses are named is different. In Revelation the horses bear riders; in Zechariah they draw chariots. The application of the symbols is also quite dissimilar (see on Zech. 6).

 Commentators have held two main views with regard to the interpretation of the first horse and its rider. One group understands this symbol as representing the church in the apostolic age (c. A.D. 31-100), when its purity of faith (suggested by the color white) and its zeal led it forth to make the greatest spiritual conquests in Christian history. Probably no century since the first of the Christian Era has seen such brilliant expansion of the kingdom of God. The bow in the rider’s hand would symbolize conquest, and the crown (stephanos; see on Rev. 2:10), victory. So swiftly was the gospel carried that when writing to the Colossians about the year A.D. 62 Paul declared that the good news had been “preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Col. 1:23; cf. AA 48, 578).

 Another group of commentators believes that the horses and riders do not represent the church as such but that they represent various adverse conditions under which the church has lived and through which, by God’s grace, it has survived. In Biblical symbolism the horse is connected with war (see Joel 2:1, 4, 5), and the equipment of the horseman on the white horse indicates that the rider is a warrior. Both the crown of the rider and the whiteness of the horse may be understood as implying victory. Thus the first horseman is taken to represent a time when the people of God lived in a world characterized by military conquest and dominion, when Rome, going forth “conquering, and to conquer,” maintained the leading world power.

Seventh-day Adventists have generally held that the first horse represents the church in the apostolic age.

A sign of warfare.

 Gr. stephanos (see on ch. 2:10).

Literally, “conquering, and that he might conquer.” This implies continued victory.

 See on ch. 4:6. In turn, each of the living creatures announces one of the four horsemen.

 See on v. 1.

 The symbolism of the second horseman well portrays conditions under which the church found itself from about A.D. 100-313 (cf. on ch. 2:10). The violent persecutions it suffered at the hands of the Roman Caesars are well characterized by a horseman who carries a “great sword” and has power “to take peace from the earth.” If white represents purity of faith (see on ch. 6:2), then red may be regarded as a corruption of faith through the introduction of various heresies (see Vols. IV, p. 835; VI, pp. 43-46, 51-58, 64-67).

 According to another view the color of this horse is suggestive of blood. As the first horseman may be taken as symbolizing the glory of military conquest (see on v. 2), so the second may be regarded as portraying other aspects of warfare—loss of peace and abundance of slaughter. Such would be the inevitable result of the conquest portrayed by the first horseman, if he is understood to symbolize the conquest and dominion of Rome. Seventh-day Adventists have generally held the first view.

 Gr. machaira, a large knife or short sword used for fighting. Compare the use of the word in Matt. 10:34; John 18:10; etc.

 See on chs. 4:6; 6:3.

 See on v. 1.

 If the white horse implied victory, or its color purity (see on v. 2), so the black horse may be thought of as indicating defeat or its color further corruption of faith.

Gr. zugos, “a yoke,” here used for the crossbar of a balance. This symbol may be thought of as characterizing the spiritual condition within the church after the legalization of Christianity in the 4th century, when church and state were united.

Following this union much of the concern of the church was with secular matters, and in many instances a dearth of spirituality ensued. For a history of this period see pp. 18-25.

 These balances may also be interpreted as a symbol of undue concern for the material necessities of life. No longer does warfare result in victory, as with the first horseman (see on v. 2), or represent largely bloodshed, as with the second (see on v. 4), but now an even more dreaded result has followed—famine.

Gr. choinix, a measure approximately equivalent to a quart (see Vol. V, p. 50). This amount of grain represented a day’s ration of food for a workingman.

 Gr. dēnarios, a coin worth some 11 cents in terms of modern monetary values (see Vol. V, p. 49). The Roman “penny” represented a day’s wages for an ordinary laborer (see Matt. 20:2). Hence a day’s ration of wheat for a day’s labor represented barely sufficient food for the laborer and his family. Much less would be actual starvation. According to grain prices quoted by Cicero (Against Verres iii. 81) for Sicily, the prices mentioned by John were about 8 to 16 times the normal prices. However, in spite of famine, survival is possible. So God has ever preserved His children in times of need.

As applied to the period of Christian history following the legalization of Christianity, about A.D. 313-538 (cf. p. 753), the words of the unidentified speaker may be interpreted as indicating a general preoccupation with material things.

 This grain was cheaper than wheat, as is indicated here by the relative prices (see 2 Kings 7:18). Barley was a common food of the poor, and was used as feed for animals (see on John 6:9).

The voice that announces the high cost of wheat and barley also commands that oil and wine are not to be uselessly destroyed.

These were the two common liquids used as food in the ancient world. Some have interpreted them as symbols of faith and love, which were to be preserved in the face of the materialism that dominated the church after its legalization in the 4th century.

 Compare on chs. 5:1; 6:1.

 See on chs. 4:6; 6:3.

 See on v. 1.

 The color of fear and death. With the pale horse the times of distress reach a fearful climax (see on vs. 2, 4, 5).

 Gr. hadēs, “the abode of the dead” (see on Matt. 11:23). Death and hell are here personified and represented, the one as a rider on the horse, and the other as following along.

Probably signifying a wide area of the earth.

 Gr. rhomphaia (see on ch. 1:16). The series—sword, hunger, death (or pestilence; see below on “death”), and beasts—may be thought of as portraying the progressive deterioration of civilization that follows warfare. The ravages of the sword, killing men and destroying crops, produce hunger; hunger, resulting in the breakdown of health, brings pestilence; and when pestilence has taken its toll, human society is so weakened that it cannot protect itself against the inroads of wild beasts.

 When applied to a particular period of Christian history, the fourth horseman seems to portray a situation especially characteristic of the period from about 538 to 1517, the beginning of the Reformation (cf. pp. 753, 754; see on ch. 2:18).

 The phrase “to kill ... with death” seems hardly to make good sense. This difficulty probably is resolved best by understanding the word translated “death,” thanatos, here, as meaning “pestilence.” The LXX repeatedly translates the Hebrew word deber, “pestilence,” by thanatos (see Lev. 26:25; Jer. 21:6; Eze. 5:12). John, to whom Semitic thought was more natural than Greek, apparently follows the LXX usage here rather than a strictly Greek definition of the word.

 The altar presented in the prophetic picture was probably reminiscent of the bronze altar of the Hebrew sanctuary, and the martyrs may be thought of as sacrifices presented to God. As the blood of the victims was poured out at the base of that altar (see Lev. 4:7), and “the life [LXX, psuchē, “soul”] of the flesh is in the blood” (ch. 17:11), so the souls of those who have given themselves in martyrdom may be thought of as being beneath the altar. Later Jewish tradition set forth the idea that Israel’s dead were buried, as it were, under the altar, and those buried under the altar were interred, as it were, under the throne of glory (see Strack and Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament, vol. 3, p. 803).

 Some hold that the altar should be identified with the one mentioned in Rev. 8:3.

 Gr. psuchai, for a discussion of which see on Matt. 10:28. It should be remembered that John was viewing pictorial representations, and that the rules governing the interpretation of such prophecies must be kept in mind when the meaning of the various symbols is sought (see on Eze. 1:10). John saw an altar at the base of which lay the “souls” of martyrs. Rules of interpretation do not require us to locate a specific altar in a certain location at a particular moment of history. As with the details of a parable, not all features of a prophetic symbolization necessarily have interpretative value. It appears that the symbolization of the fifth seal was presented to encourage those who faced martyrdom and death, with the assurance that despite the seeming triumph of the enemy, vindication would ultimately come. Such an encouragement would be particularly heartening for those living in the time of the terrible persecutions of the later Middle Ages, but more especially during the time of the Reformation and after (c. 1517-1755; see pp. 41-67; see on v. 12). To them, it must have seemed that the long period of oppression would never end. The message of the fifth seal was a reassurance that the cause of God would ultimately triumph. The same encouragement will come to those passing through the last great conflict (see 5T 451).

Any attempt to interpret these “souls” as the disembodied spirits of departed martyrs does violence to the rules of interpretation of symbolic prophecies. John was not given a view of heaven as it actually appears. There are no white, red, black, or pale horses there with warlike riders. Jesus does not appear there in the form of a lamb with a bleeding knife wound. The four beasts do not represent actual winged creatures of the animal characteristics noted (see Vol. III, pp. 1111). Likewise, there are no “souls” lying at the base of an altar in heaven. The whole scene was a pictorial and symbolic representation designed to teach the spiritual lesson above noted.

The focus of the revelation now changes from a description of the widespread conditions of destruction and death under which God’s people suffer, to a consideration of the condition of the saints themselves.

 See on ch. 1:2, 9.

 See on ch. 1:2, 9.

 That is, in the pictorial representation (see on v. 9). The “souls” are heard speaking.

 Gr. despotēs (see on Luke 2:29). The correlative of despotēs is doulos, “slave” (see 1 Peter 2:18). By giving their lives the martyrs have shown themselves true “slaves of God” (see Titus 1:1; cf. on Rev. 6:11), and thus He is their Master. The reference here is probably to the Father.

 See on ch. 3:7, where these words are applied to Christ.

 The martyrs do not seek vengeance for themselves; they seek, instead, the vindication of God’s name (see Rom. 12:19; see on Rev. 5:13).

 See on ch. 3:10.

 Textual evidence attests (cf. p. 10) the reading “a robe” (stolē). This is a different word from that translated “raiment” in chs. 3:5; 4:4. The stolē was a long robe worn as a mark of distinction (see on Mark 12:38). In vision John observes the “souls” being clothed, each one in a white robe. The representation seems to be designed to show that in spite of their ignominious deaths, and of the fact that their martyrdoms have not yet been avenged by God, the martyrs are already recognized by God as conquerors.

In John’s day such an assurance was particularly comforting to Christians who had seen their fellow believers destroyed in the persecution of Nero (A.D. 64), and who now faced martyrdom themselves in the persecution of Domitian (see Vol. VI, p. 87). In every age since that time the promises of God to His martyred saints have cheered those who themselves were about to give their lives for His name’s sake.

 The command is given to those who in prophetic vision were agitated over the seeming long delay. In actual fact the martyrs have been at rest ever since they laid down their lives, and will continue to be at rest until the resurrection (cf. on ch. 14:13). Their “fellowservants” would carry on the struggle until they too were victorious in martyrdom.

 The time was not to be indefinitely delayed (see on ch. 1:1; cf. ch. 12:12). The great controversy with evil must be fought out to a glorious climax. Sin must be allowed to demonstrate its ugly character so fully that never again will there be a question as to God’s righteousness and justice (see on ch. 5:13).

 Gr. sundouloi, “fellow slaves” (cf. on v. 10).

That is, the number should be completed (see RSV). This does not mean that Providence has decreed that a specific number should be martyred. It was necessary that a certain time elapse so that the true nature of Satan’s program of action might be fully demonstrated, and God thereby shown to be just and glorious.

 The events of the sixth seal reveal the disjointing of the physical universe. The prophet Joel had already used the figure of an earthquake to describe the upheaval of nature in the day of the Lord (Joel 2:10; cf. Isa. 13:9-11; Amos 8:9).

Inasmuch as the earthquake is followed by the darkening of the sun, and the latter event may be dated in A.D. 1780 (see below on “sun became black”), this earthquake has been identified with the Lisbon quake on Nov. 1, 1755, one of the most extensive and severe seismological disturbances ever recorded. The shock of the quake was felt not only in North Africa but also as far away as the West Indies. Identification with the great Lisbon earthquake suggests 1755 as an appropriate beginning date (cf. p. 754).

 The darkening of the sun is frequently mentioned in OT prophecy in connection with the catastrophes that precede the day of the Lord (see on Isa. 13:10). Jesus took particular note of this phenomenon in His prophecy of the end of the world, and noted it as one of the signs by which His followers might know that His coming was near (see on Matt. 24:29, 33; see GC 334).

 A spectacular, literal fulfillment of the scene described here was experienced in eastern New York and southern New England on May 19, 1780. A careful study of newspaper reports of that time reveals that an unusual darkness appeared in eastern New York and southwestern New England about ten o’clock that morning, and during the day made its way eastward across southern and central New England, and to some distance at sea. Each locality reported that the darkness lasted several hours. This phenomenon occurred at the time predicted—“in those days, after that tribulation” (Mark 13:24; see on Matt. 24:29). It was observed in an area where a remarkable revival of interest in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation was about to take place, and was recognized by students of these prophecies as fulfilling the present passage (see GC 304-308).

 See on Matt. 24:29.

 See on Matt. 24:29; cf. Isa. 34:4. See GC 333.

Gr. olunthoi, defined by some as early figs that fall off before they come to maturity. Some fig trees of inferior variety cast off all or nearly all of their fruit when it has reached the size of a cherry. Others define olunthoi as late or summer figs.

 See Isa. 34:4.

 Gr. biblion (see on ch. 5:1). The picture here is of the sky being rolled up like a roll of parchment. In ancient cosmology the sky was considered to be a solid vault above the earth. The prophet now sees the sky rolled back, that the earth may stand unshielded before God. Isaiah (ch. 34:4) presents the same picture. This event is doubtless the same as that described by Jesus when He said, “The powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (see on Matt. 24:29). This event is yet future and is closely connected with the actual appearance of the Son of man in the heavens.

 In ch. 16:20 these fearful convulsions are presented as events taking place under the seventh plague.

 See chs. 16:14; 17:12. The list that follows runs the whole gamut of social and political life as it existed in the Roman world of John’s day. Though the actual coming of Christ is not mentioned here, the context makes clear that Christ is about to appear.

Gr. megistanes, “chief men,” “nobles,” perhaps corresponding to the Latin magistrati, civil officials of the Roman government, such as Pliny (see Vol. VI, pp. 61-63, 88), who often sent Christian martyrs to their deaths.

 See on James 5:1-6.

 Gr. chiliarchoi, “chiefs of a thousand.” In the NT this word is used for the Roman military tribune (see John 18:12; Acts 21:31-33), and so here it probably represents high military officers.

 Compare 1 Cor. 1:26.

Or, “slave.”

 Compare chs. 13:16; 19:18.

 See Hosea 10:8; Luke 23:30. To face God now is more fearful than to face death itself.

 Gr. orgē (see on Rom. 1:18).

 See Joel 2:11, 31; see on Isa. 13:6.

 Compare Nahum 1:6; Mal. 3:2; Luke 21:36. With this searching question the present scene comes to a close. Each of the six seals that have been opened shows a different phase of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, and each helps to demonstrate before the onlooking universe the righteousness of God (see on Rev. 5:13). Now there is a pause in the opening of the seals, for a question must be answered. Thus far in the portrayal of the terrible events that precede the second advent, no indication has been given that anyone survives them. Hence the dramatic question, “Who shall be able to stand?” Chapter 7 breaks the sequence of the seals in order to present an answer.