Daily Bible Reading (Thursday, December 7th)

4

Revelation 6 (ESV)

 

The Seven Seals

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart[a] of wheat for a denarius,[b] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

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 witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers[c] should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[d] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Footnotes:

  1. Revelation 6:6 Greek choinix, a dry measure equal to about a quart
  2. Revelation 6:6 denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
  3. Revelation 6:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothersor to brothers and sisters
  4. Revelation 6:15 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

4 Comments

So Kelly, your exegesis to the verse is quite comparative to John MacArthur’s or even by Merrill C. Tenney. Here’s his take concerning the Lamb of God opening the third seal: “The third horse is black, the color of famine. The scales carried by the rider signify scarcity of food that must be rationed by weight. “A quart of wheat for a denarius” (RSV) means that the ordinary day’s wage of a laboring man would buy only enough grain to sustain him, with nothing left to clothe or shelter him, or to support his family. War always brings economic scarcity in its wake, with an imbalance of luxury goods. In this judgment, oil and wine are still abundant, but the staple grains are scarce.” So for what that is worth, I remain in the sacred scriptures. Thanks for your input Kelly.

I was wondering about verse 6 also Gordie, but then at the bottom it mentions that a denarius is a day's wage, which is a lot for a quart size of wheat or 3/4 a quart size of barley. So I am figuring that the judgement represented by the scales of justice is a judgement on the crops so that wheat and barley are so scarce that the costs soar. And the voice is specific that the oil and wine not be harmed in the judgement. What an amazing peek into what we will be observing from Heaven on the earth, a just sentence and punishment to those who refuse to submit and are evil and hostile to God. His wrath is just, and the martyrs soon to be avenged! Lord come quickly!!

The wrath of God and of the Lamb. In chapters 2 and 3 when Jesus warned the churches to repent or else, this is the or else that He warned them of. As we see the wrath of God unfold I need to remember 2 things - this is just one picture of how awesome God's wrath is and this reminds me of how much God hates sin. We think of the Lamb as the one who forgives and loves, but He also has wrath and we should not take His love and forgiveness lightly.

Pretty vivid and clear what is happening here. Focused on verses 9-17 with reverence and awe...I am inquisitive about verse 6 though. Have mercy on us Lord, sinners that we are. Here my prayer...

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