3. The things which shall be hereafter (4-22)
A. Judgment on the inhabitants of the earth (4-19)
4. The seal judgments (6)
a. Conquest
In chapter six, the Lamb begins to open the seals on the book of judgment. The first seal releases the anti-christ (Christ does not return until later in the program (cf. Revelation 19:11).
Riding a white horse, the antichrist is an agent of deception, who appears righteous to the inhabitants of the earth. The bow without an arrow may indicate that antichrist is able to conquer through disarmament and negotiation (cf. Daniel 8:25).
b. War
The second seal, a rider on a red horse, removes peace from the earth through war and bloodshed. That a great sword is given may confirm the extent to which this judgment will remove peace and bring bloodshed.
c. Famine
The black horse of the third seal brings famine, rationing of food, and inflation. "three quarts of barley for a denarius" may indicate that a single meal for a single person will cost a day's wages.
d. Death
Seal number four brings the pale, yellowish-green horse of death and hell. The extent of this judgment is such that "a fourth of the earth" will be killed by "sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth".
e. Martyrs
The fifth seal reveals martyrs in heaven (probably those who were killed during the first judgments of the tribulation), who cry out for vengeance on those who murdered them.
f. Terror
When the Lamb opens the sixth seal, it issues forth in "a great earthquake", a blackening of the sun, a blood-red moon, stars falling to earth, the sky splitting apart like a scroll, and "every mountain and island" being moved out of their places. This global upheaval results in great dismay for the inhabitants of the earth.
An interlude (chapter 7) precedes the opening of the seventh seal.
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