Revelation 6 – The Seals Are Opened: The Beginning of Sorrows
As the Lamb begins to open the sealed scroll, the end-time events begin to unfold. Each seal unleashes a wave of prophetic movement—riders, voices, cries, and chaos. Revelation 6 does not mark the end—it marks the beginning of the great shaking and final separation.
The Lamb Breaks the Silence
What was sealed in chapter 5 is now opened by the only One worthy—Jesus, the Lamb of God. The scroll contains God’s decrees of judgment and redemption. As the first six seals are broken, we witness a sequence of trials that prepare the world for the return of Christ.
✔ Four riders go forth: conquest, war, famine, and death.
✔ Persecution of God’s people intensifies.
✔ Martyrs cry out for justice beneath the altar.
✔ The heavens shake as signs foretell the Day of the Lord.
📖 Key Verse: “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” – Revelation 6:17
🔎 Judgment reveals hearts—who will stand firm in faith?
Revelation Chapter 6 Overview
Dual Fulfillment of the Seals – Past Foreshadow, Future Fulfillment
The opening of the seals has both a historic and a literal-prophetic fulfillment—a layered message revealing the work of Christ across time.
🔹 Historicist View: The seals represent phases of church history, starting from the early apostolic era and progressing through centuries of spiritual battle.
🔹 Literal Final View: The seals represent end-time judgments that begin once the scroll is opened—ushering in the tribulation and final separation between the faithful and the wicked.
📖 Ecclesiastes 3:15 – “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been…”
➡️ God’s Word is alive, repeated in patterns, and fulfilled both in history and at the end of time.
Revelation 6:1–8 – The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1️⃣ White Horse – Historic: Apostolic Gospel | Future: Spiritual Deception
📖 “Behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him…” – Revelation 6:2
Historic Fulfillment:
🔹 Represents the pure gospel going forth during the early church.
🔹 White = righteousness. Crown = gospel victory. Bow = gospel conquest.
End-Time Fulfillment:
🔹 The white horse mimics Christ but is a counterfeit messiah or false religious movement.
🔹 He has a bow with no arrows, symbolizing intimidation, control, or deceptive conquest without open warfare.
🔹 A crown is given to him, meaning he is allowed temporary power—likely connected to spiritual or political deception.
🔹 Many link this to the rise of false Christianity, false revivals, or ecumenical compromise.
📖 Matthew 24:4–5 – “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name…”
➡️ Insight: Satan always copies Christ to deceive the world. This is not Christ—but the first deception to set the stage.
2️⃣ Red Horse – Historic: Persecution | Future: Global Conflict
📖 “There went out another horse that was red… to take peace from the earth…” – Revelation 6:4
Historic Fulfillment:
🔹 Symbolizes the bloodshed and persecution of early Christians by Rome.
🔹 Peace removed from the early church as martyrdom intensified.
End-Time Fulfillment:
🔹 Represents widespread war, revolution, and violence globally.
🔹 Civil unrest and national conflict on a massive scale.
📖 Matthew 24:6–7 – “Ye shall hear of wars…”
➡️ Insight: A spirit of war has always followed rejection of truth—past and present.
3️⃣ Black Horse – Historic: Spiritual Famine | Future: Economic Collapse
📖 “A black horse… and he had a pair of balances…” – Revelation 6:5
Historic Fulfillment:
🔹 Represents the Dark Ages, a time of spiritual famine and religious corruption.
🔹 Truth was scarce. The Bible was hidden. Faith was sold.
End-Time Fulfillment:
🔹 Symbolizes economic distress, control of food and money systems.
🔹 “Oil and wine not hurt” = protection for the faithful or elitist hoarding.
📖 Amos 8:11 – “A famine… of hearing the words of the Lord.”
➡️ Insight: What began spiritually now repeats literally in global crisis.
4️⃣ Pale Horse – Historic: Death & Plague | Future: Global Mortality
📖 “Behold a pale horse: and his name… was Death, and Hell followed with him.” – Revelation 6:8
Historic Fulfillment:
🔹 Represents eras of disease, war, and religious corruption—millions perished.
🔹 Fulfills cycles of judgment seen through medieval church-state unions.
End-Time Fulfillment:
🔹 Represents global death through war, pestilence, famine, and chaos.
🔹 Death followed by Hades = massive mortality and spiritual loss.
📖 Ezekiel 14:21 – “My four sore judgments…”
➡️ Insight: God’s judgments have echoed through time—but their climax is still to come.
Revelation 6:9–11 – The Cry of the Martyrs
📖 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God…” – Revelation 6:9
🔎 Faithful Unto Death
🔹 These martyrs have given their lives for two things: the Word of God and their testimony of truth.
🔹 Their location “under the altar” ties to the Old Testament sacrificial system, where the blood of the sacrifices was poured out at the base of the altar (Leviticus 4:7).
🔹 Their cry is not vengeance in anger, but a righteous appeal for justice and vindication.
📖 Psalm 116:15 – “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”
➡️ Spiritual Insight: God sees every sacrifice and records every loss. The martyrs are not forgotten—they are honored and heard.
📖 “And white robes were given unto every one of them…” – Revelation 6:11
🔎 A Delay with a Promise
🔹 White robes symbolize victory, righteousness, and acceptance in heaven (Revelation 7:14).
🔹 They are told to rest for a little season—this shows that God’s judgment is precise and timed, not delayed out of neglect.
📖 Hebrews 11:40 – “That they without us should not be made perfect.”
🔹 More martyrs are yet to come—especially during the final tribulation. This seal sets the tone for the spiritual war that intensifies before Christ returns.
➡️ End-Time Connection: As the beast system rises (Revelation 13), those who refuse the mark will once again face death for truth. This seal prophetically affirms the cost of standing for Christ in the last days.
📖 Revelation 12:11 – “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb… and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
➡️ Final Insight: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of revival. Their testimony will echo through the end-time crisis—and God will honor them in His final vindication.
Revelation 6:12–17 – Cosmic Signs and Coming Wrath
📖 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood…” – Revelation 6:12
🔎 Prophetic Earthquakes and Heavenly Signs
🔹 These signs mirror numerous Old Testament “Day of the Lord” prophecies (Joel 2:10, Isaiah 13:9–13, Ezekiel 32:7).
🔹 In Scripture, earthquakes and heavenly phenomena accompany major divine judgments or transitions, such as at Sinai, the crucifixion, and future events.
📖 Joel 2:31 – “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.”
🔹 The Lisbon Earthquake (1755), the Dark Day (1780), and the Meteor Shower (1833) are commonly cited by historicists as partial fulfillments.
🔹 But in the end-time fulfillment, these events will likely occur in far greater intensity and visibility, shaking the entire earth and signaling the imminence of Christ’s return.
📖 Luke 21:25–26 – “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars… men’s hearts failing them for fear…”
➡️ Insight: These signs will be undeniable and global, causing fear among the wicked and awakening the sleeping remnant.
📖 “And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth… and the heaven departed as a scroll…” – Revelation 6:13–14
🔎 Creation Unravels Before the Creator Returns
🔹 The “stars falling” echo Isaiah 34:4, symbolizing a collapse of the current order—heaven is rolled back like a scroll.
🔹 These are not just symbolic—the heavens and earth will visibly react to the return of the King.
🔹 Could refer to massive meteor showers, celestial disruptions, or a literal supernatural event where the veil between heaven and earth is drawn back.
📖 Hebrews 12:26–27 – “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven…”
➡️ Insight: Everything not grounded in Christ will be shaken. These events reveal whether we trust in heaven or earth.
📖 “And the kings of the earth… hid themselves… and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us…” – Revelation 6:15–16
🔎 Terror of the Unrepentant
🔹 No rank or status—from kings to slaves—can escape this moment.
🔹 Instead of repenting, they cry to be hidden from the face of Christ. This parallels Hosea 10:8 and Luke 23:30.
📖 Isaiah 2:19 – “They shall go into the holes of the rocks… for fear of the Lord…”
🔹 The face of the Lamb once offered salvation—but now it brings terror to those who rejected Him.
➡️ Insight: It is not hell’s fire that terrifies the lost—it is the unveiled presence of the rejected Savior.
📖 “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” – Revelation 6:17
🔎 The Final Question Before the Seal Pauses
🔹 This question echoes across the Bible: Who can stand before a holy God? (Malachi 3:2; Psalm 130:3).
🔹 Revelation 7 answers it: Those sealed with God’s name, who trust in the Lamb, will stand.
➡️ Final Insight: The sixth seal ends with a cosmic pause—a moment of terror for the wicked and assurance for the faithful. What follows is preparation and sealing before the final judgments.
Revelation Chapter 6 - Deeper Study
Overview: The Beginning of Sorrows
🔹 Theme: The Lamb opens the seals—God’s judgments begin.
🔹 Focus: Deception, conflict, famine, death, martyrdom, and cosmic upheaval.
🔹 Outcome: The world is shaken, but the faithful are called to endure.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Jesus opens the scroll—it is under His control.
🔑 Deception is the first weapon—know the real Christ.
🔑 Tribulation is not escape—it’s endurance through shaking.
🔑 Martyrs are honored, and justice is coming.
Prophetic Patterns & Fulfillment
🔮 Four Horsemen mirror Matthew 24’s outline: deception, war, famine, death.
🔮 Martyrdom aligns with Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 12:11.
🔮 Earthquake and heavenly signs echo Joel 2, Isaiah 13, and Matthew 24:29.
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Seals and Scrolls – Ancient legal contracts and decrees were sealed—symbolizing authority and finality.
📜 Horse Imagery – Horses represented speed and power—used by kings, armies, and messengers.
📜 Martyrs Under the Altar – Reflects temple imagery where blood of sacrifices was poured out at the base of the altar.
Final Reflection: Who Shall Be Able to Stand?
The seals are opened. The world begins to shake. But amid the storm stands a question for every soul:
📌 Are you grounded in Christ, or shaken by fear?
📌 Are you following the Lamb, or deceived by imitation?
📌 Will you endure with the saints, or hide from the throne?
🚀 The time is now. Stand firm. Stay faithful. The Lamb still leads.
The Seven Seals
Rev 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
Rev 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
Rev 6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
Rev 6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
Rev 6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
Rev 6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Date Written
95-96 AD
Written By
John – Apostle to the Jews
Language
Greek
Verses
17