The vision of the glorified Son of man in chapter 1 led to the writing of the seven letters to the churches (chaps. 2–3). Similarly the throne-room vision of chapters 4 and 5 sets the stage for the opening of the scroll with its sequence of seals, trumpets, and bowls (chaps. 6–16). The dramatic portrayal of God’s righteous judgment is now under way. It should be noted that the scroll is not actually opened until all seven seals are removed. So in a sense, the content of the scroll begins with chapter 8 and the sounding of the seven trumpets. On the other hand, as each seal is removed we are introduced to a series of preliminary judgments representing forces operative throughout history by means of which the redemptive and judicial purposes of God are being carried out prior to the end.
A. FIRST FOUR SEALS: THE FOUR HORSEMEN (6:1–8)
1I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The seven seals of chapter 6 divide into two groups of four and three (a pattern that is continued in the trumpets (chaps. 8–9) and in the bowls (chap. 16). The “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (the first four seals) are among the more widely recognized symbols of the book of Revelation and have had a long and checkered history of interpretation. Most likely in the overall scheme they represent forces of God operating in judgment throughout history.1 The imagery comes from Zechariah’s visions of the variously colored horses in 1:8–17 and 6:1–8. As usual, John modifies his sources with great freedom. In Zechariah the colors (red, sorrel, white, black, and dappled gray) appear to have no special significance. In Revelation they correspond to the character of the rider and symbolize conquest (white), bloodshed (red), scarcity (black), and death (pale, livid). In Zechariah they are sent out to patrol the earth, while in Revelation their release brings disasters to the earth.2
It should be noted that although the form of John’s vision is related to Zechariah, the subject matter corresponds to the eschatological discourse of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Luke records wars and tumults, nation rising against nation, great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, great signs from heaven, and persecution (Luke 21:9ff.; cf. Mark 13:7ff. and Matt 24:6ff.).3 By combining earthquakes and the cosmic disturbances, the seven woes of Luke are included within the six seals of Revelation. In Jewish thought the “age to come” would be preceded by a period of unprecedented woe. “These are the beginning of birth pains,” Jesus said, “the end is still to come” (Mark 13:7–8).
The scenes depicted by the seals (except the fifth, vv. 9–11) are seen as taking place on the earth. They are not a kind of heavenly counterpart.
1 It is the Lamb himself who opens the first seal. He alone is worthy to set into motion those events that will bring about the culmination of human history. One of the living creatures calls out with a voice like thunder for the first of the four apocalyptic horsemen to ride forth. Translations that read “Come and see” are the result of copyists who understood the command as an invitation to the Seer.4
2 John looks, and behold, a white horse! Mounted on the horse is a rider with a bow and a crown who rides out as a conqueror bent on conquest. The question of the identity of the white horse and rider has been extensively discussed by commentators. One of two answers is usually given. An interpretation that goes back at least to Irenaeus (late 2nd cent.) identifies the rider with Christ and the white horse with the victorious progress of the gospel. The primary support for this view comes from 19:11, where we again meet a white horse and rider. That the rider in chapter 19 is the Christ follows from v. 13, where he is named “The Word of God,” and from v. 16, where on his robe and on his thigh is written “KINGS OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” The argument for identifying the present white horse rider with Christ runs as follows: Should not the Apocalypse be allowed to explain its own symbolism? The rider is mounted on a white horse (the color of righteousness) and goes forth to conquer (cf. 5:5, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah … has triumphed”).5 In Mark 13:10 the universal proclamation of the gospel seems to precede the beginning of travail—at least it is one of the events that take place before the end (cf. Matt 24:14). Hence its appearance as one of the seals is not at all unexpected. Furthermore, no calamities follow after the white horse, as in the three other cases.6
The arguments against Christ as the rider of the white horse, however, are of sufficient strength to make the identification unlikely. A comparison of chapters 6 and 19 shows that the two riders have little in common beyond the fact that they are both mounted on white horses. In 6:2 the rider wears a victor’s wreath and carries a bow; in 19:11ff. he is crowned with “many crowns”7 and armed with a sharp sword coming out of his mouth. The context of 6:2 is one of conquest, while that of 19:11ff. is righteous retribution.
Another difficulty is that the identification brackets the proclamation of the gospel with a series of devastating calamities following one another as the inevitable results of human sinfulness (war, scarcity, death).8 There is also the confusion involved in the Lamb’s opening the seals while at the same time being the one who rides forth when the first seal is broken. A final and fatal objection is the repeated use of “there was given,” which normally in Revelation refers to “the divine permission granted to evil powers to carry out their nefarious work.”9
The other prominent interpretation of the white horse and rider is that they symbolize the spirit of conquest and militarism.10 In the OT the bow was a symbol of military power. God told the prophet Hosea that he would “break Israel’s bow in the valley of Jezreel” (Hos 1:5). The warriors of Babylon will be captured and “their bows will be broken” (Jer 51:56). The crown is a symbol of victory.11
Some writers see in the bow a veiled reference to a much-feared invasion from beyond the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire. The Parthians were the most famous archers of antiquity (and white horses were their trademark), and in A.D. 62 Vologeses had won an unprecedented victory over a Roman army. This had unnerved the West and led them to fear an all-out invasion. While this may be a secondary reference, John has in mind military conquest in general.12
3–4 The Lamb now opens the second seal, and the second living creature summons the next apocalyptic horseman to ride forth. Out comes a fiery red horse whose rider is given a large sword and the power to take peace from the earth, allowing people to slay one another. The color of the second horse13 corresponds to the mission of its rider and symbolizes slaughter and bloodshed. If the first seal suggested invasion from without, the second seal may refer to internal strife.14 The sword that was given to the rider was the Roman short sword appropriate to this sort of internecine warfare.15 His mission is to remove peace from the earth and allow people to turn their destructive instincts upon one another.16 It recalls Paul’s words in 2 Thess 2:6ff. concerning the removal of that which restrains and the resultant lawlessness. Typical of the Jewish view of the end times is Zechariah 14, which pictures the final warfare leading to the universal reign of God. Verse 13 reads, “On that day men will be stricken by the LORD with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other.” Isaiah says that God will stir up the Egyptians, and they will fight “brother … against brother, neighbor against neighbor” (19:2).17
The mission of the red horse would be quickly understood in John’s day, well acquainted as it was with rebellion and civil disorder. In a single year, A.D. 68–69, Rome had been ruled by four different emperors. It is reported that in the thirty-year period prior to the reign of Herod the Great (67–37 B.C.), more than one hundred thousand insurgents died in revolutions and rebellions in Palestine alone.18 Anarchy and bloodshed are harbingers of the end.
5–6 With the opening of the third seal by the Lamb and at the command of the third living creature, there comes forth a black horse whose rider holds a pair of scales in his hand. A voice from the center of the throne room announces famine prices for wheat and barley, and warns against hurting the oil and wine. The balance indicates a time of scarcity when the basic commodities of life are measured out at greatly inflated prices. In portraying the siege of Jerusalem, God told Ezekiel that its inhabitants would “eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair” (Ezek 4:16; cf. Lev 26:26). The denarius was a Roman silver coin equivalent to the daily wage of a working man (cf. Matt 20:2). For a day’s work a man could buy only enough wheat for himself or enough of the less nutritious barley for three. The price appears to be ten to twelve times what it should have been.19
The most common interpretation of the black horse and rider is that they symbolize famine. Famine is implied by the balance and the exorbitant prices. It was a normal result of warfare in ancient times when invading armies lived off the lands they were conquering. The warning against hurting the oil and wine sets limits to the destruction about to be carried out by the horseman. Since the roots of the olive and vine go deeper, they would not be affected by a limited drought that would all but destroy the grain. This interpretation is in harmony with the increasing intensity of the three cycles of judgment. The fourth seal affects “a fourth of the earth” (6:8), the trumpets destroy a third (8:7, 8, 10, 12), and the destruction by the bowls is complete and final (16:1ff.).
The warning about the oil and wine has been variously interpreted. Some feel that it was added to underscore the social inequity existing in a time of scarcity. It is the poor, not the rich, who suffer.20 But in that case it would also be difficult to understand why the Lamb—the voice “among the four living creatures” (v. 6; cf. 5:6)—would issue an order favoring the rich and aggravating the plight of the poor. Others see in the oil and wine a reference to the sacrament (cf. Jas 5:14) and understand the clause to promise that believers will not suffer from the famine.21 It is simpler to take the phrase as indicating a natural limitation to the famine.
Commentators who hold that much of John’s imagery grows out of his contemporary culture usually mention the decree of Domitian in A.D. 92 to destroy half the vineyards throughout the provinces. The order met such resistance that it was rescinded. John is portrayed as an ascetic, who was displeased and therefore predicted an evil time when people would have oil and wine in abundance but lack bread.22
7–8 When the Lamb opens the fourth seal the fourth living creature calls, and there comes forth a horse the color of a corpse.23 His rider is Death, and following along behind is his inseparable companion Hades (cf. 1:18, 20; 13:14). Power is given to them over a fourth part of the earth. This expression does not indicate a geographical area but sets forth in a quantitative sense the limitations placed upon their murderous activity. They bring about the death of one-fourth of humankind. The four specific ways in which they kill are based on the “four dreadful judgments” of Ezek 14:21—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague.24 No significance should be attached to the fact that John here chooses a different word for sword than he used in 6:4. The two are frequently used as synonyms in the Septuagint.25 It may be that this fourfold plague represents an intensification of that which is represented by the first three seals. Death by wild beasts would be expected in a land decimated by war and famine.
The overlapping of v. 8 with the judgments of the first three seals leads Charles to judge the text corrupt. He shortens it considerably by dropping the clauses that refer to Hades and the four instrumentalities of death.26 One writer takes the second sentence of v. 8 as a separate paragraph that refers to all four seals. In this way it becomes the Seer’s own interpretation of the riders.27
Reviewing the various interpretations assigned to the Four Horsemen tends to rob the contemporary reader of the dramatic nature of the vision itself. It is good to place oneself back in one of the seven churches and listen to the visions as they are being read. Instead of discussing the probable significance of each of the four colored horses those first listeners would undoubtedly have recoiled in terror as war, bloodshed, famine, and death galloped furiously across the stage of their imagination. Visions at best are to be experienced rather than analyzed. Those who approach Revelation with a sympathetic imagination are most apt to understand its true meaning.
B. FIFTH SEAL: CRY OF THE MARTYRS (6:9–11)
9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
The seven seals divide into two groups of four and three. Now that the four horsemen have ridden forth, the scene changes. The opening of the fifth seal reveals an altar in heaven under which are the souls of the faithful martyrs. If the first four seals portrayed the troubled times of the approaching consummation, the fifth supplies an interpretation of Christian martyrdom. The martyrs (who have undergone suffering and tribulation) ask the crucial question, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (v. 10). The clear answer is that it will get worse before it gets better. In God’s own time he will pour out his wrath on the unbelieving, who will call frantically on the mountains and rocks to hide them. The day of God’s (and the Lamb’s) wrath will come and the unanswerable question is, “Who can stand?” (v. 17).
9 The idea of heaven as the temple of God is common in Jewish thought. “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Hab 2:20; cf. Ps 18:6; T. Levi 18:6). It is probably unnecessary to conjecture whether the altar is the altar of burnt offering or the altar of incense. The theme of sacrifice would suggest the former, but the prayers that rise (v. 10) seem to indicate the latter. There is no reason why in John’s vision the two should not blend together as one.
In OT ritual sacrifice the blood of the bullock was poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering (Lev 4:7; Exod 29:12). This blood contained the life, or soul, of the flesh (Lev 17:11). That the souls of the martyrs were “under the altar” is a way of saying that their untimely deaths on earth are from God’s perspective a sacrifice on the altar of heaven. Paul viewed his coming death as a drink offering to be poured out (2 Tim 4:6; cf. Phil 2:17). A somewhat parallel idea in rabbinic writing—that “the souls of the righteous are kept under the throne of glory”1—may suggest the idea of martyrs as having reached a place of safety.
The martyrs had given up their lives because of the word of God and the testimony they had borne.2 Their testimony was not primarily their witness about Jesus but the witness that they had received from him (cf. 12:17; 20:4).3 Instead of being coordinate, the second phrase (“the testimony they had maintained”) may serve to make the first (“the word of God”) more specific.4 Those who died, therefore, are those who gave their lives in faithfulness to God as revealed in and through Jesus Christ. Note that John knows nothing of a “rapture” of the church by which Christians are spared the tribulation that normally accompanies a godly life (cf. 2 Tim 3:12). They “ascend to heaven through suffering and death, as Jesus did: they are not taken to heaven to escape the sufferings of earth.”5
10 From beneath the altar there rises a plea for vindication. With a loud voice the martyrs cry out, “How long, Sovereign Lord,6 holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Some writers emphasize what appears to be a marked contrast between this prayer and that of Stephen the first martyr, whose last words were a request that those who were stoning him not be held responsible for their act (Acts 7:60). Had not Jesus himself prayed at Calvary, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)?7 But before we conclude that the cry of the martyrs for vindication is sub-Christ, certain other considerations should be taken into account. The idea of divine vindication of the people of God is common throughout the OT. Ps 79:10 reads, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.” This request does not rise from a personal desire for revenge, but out of concern for the reputation of God. It is unlike the attitude of the Jewish writer of the Assumption of Moses, who promised the saints that they would look down from on high and rejoice that their enemies were in Gehenna (10:10). It certainly has none of the vindictiveness of Tertullian (the early third-century apologist), who writes of how he will laugh and exult at the last judgment as he sees the proud monarchs groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness, and the magistrates liquefying in fiercer flames than they ever kindled against the Christians.8
One interesting suggestion is that the martyrs’ cry should be interpreted against the background of Hebrew jurisprudence in which a plaintiff must plead his own case. Condemned in a human court, the decision stands unless reversed by a higher court. The real point at issue is not the relation of the martyrs to their accusers, but the validity of their faith.9
God is appealed to as one who is “holy and true.” Totally separate from all evil, he will vindicate with integrity those who have given their lives for the cause of righteousness.10 Through centuries of oppression the cry, How long? has constantly risen to heaven. “How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant?” asks the Psalmist (94:3). “How long, O LORD, must I call for help,” asks the prophet, “but you do not listen?” (Hab 1:2). Vindication, not bitter revenge, is the theme.
“The inhabitants of the earth” is a semitechnical designation for the human race in its hostility to God.11 In 11:10 they are those who rejoice over the death of the two witnesses. In chapter 13 they are pictured as worshiping the beast (vv. 8, 12), and in chapter 17 as intoxicated with the wine of the great prostitute’s adulteries (v. 2). Their names are not written in the book of life (17:8), and they are subject to the coming hour of trial (3:10; 8:13).
11 To each of the martyrs was given a white robe. Some writers understand this as a reference to spiritual or glorified bodies that are given to the martyrs ahead of time as a token of special honor.12 It is thought to have developed from God’s wrapping himself in light as with a garment (cf. Ps 104:2). Apocalyptists spoke of the resurrection bodies of the righteous as “garments of glory” (1 Enoch 62:16; 2 Enoch 22:8), which were “stored up on high in the seventh heaven” (Asc. Isa. 4:16). Paul’s reference to “a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands,” which will clothe the believer at death (2 Cor 5:1ff.), is thought to be analogous (cf. also 1 Cor 15:35ff.; Phil 3:21).
In the book of Revelation, however, white robes are symbols of blessedness and purity. The redeemed throng before the throne in 7:9 are arrayed in white robes. They have come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (7:13–14; cf. 22:14). The church at Laodicea is counseled to buy gold, white clothes,13 and eye salve (3:18), a strange suggestion if white robes are glorified bodies.
The martyrs are told to wait a little longer until their number is completed. The victims of Nero’s persecution14 are about to be joined by those who will give their lives rather than pay homage to Domitian as divine. The charge is not to control their impatience but to rest in the enjoyment of their blessedness. There are others who are yet to join their number. Jewish thought portrayed God as governing the world according to a predetermined time schedule (cf. 2 Bar. 23:4–5; 2 Esdr 4:35–37) in which the end would not come until the full number of the righteous were offered (1 Enoch 47:4; 2 Esdr 2:41).15 Those to be killed are their fellow servants, even their brothers and sisters. The verse does not distinguish two separate groups.
C. SIXTH SEAL: THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE (6:12–17)
12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Verses 12–17 come in response to the question of the martyrs under the altar in the fifth seal (“How long … until you avenge our blood?”). The answer is not given in terms of days, months, or years but conveys the certainty that their deaths will be vindicated. Great cosmic disturbances will come to pass and secular society, responsible for the lives of believers, will come to understand that God has already set into motion that chain of events by which his wrath will be fully carried out.
12–14 With the opening of the sixth seal the great cosmic disturbances that are to herald the last days begin. For a people who held that the well-ordered movements of heavenly bodies were a token of God’s providential control, the breakdown of this order would be a grim announcement that the end of the world was at hand. The details in this dramatic description of a universe in turmoil are drawn from the common stock of current apocalypticism.1 They are not to be taken with complete literalness.2 Those who first read John’s description would not have bothered to debate whether or not the details were to be taken literally. They were part of a well-established tradition that went back through contemporary apocalyptic literature to the earlier prophetic portrayals of the day of the Lord.3
The earthquake was a regular feature of divine visitation. When God descended on Sinai, “the whole mountain trembled violently” (Exod 19:18). Isaiah prophesies that people will hide in caves from the terror of the Lord “when he rises to shake the earth” (Isa 2:19). “In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth,” writes Haggai (2:6).4 This great earthquake is to be accompanied by the sun turning black like sackcloth made of goat hair5 and the whole moon turning blood red.6 In a passage quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost as partially fulfilled at that time (Acts 2:20), the prophet Joel says of the coming great and terrible day of the Lord, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood.”7 The stars of heaven are pictured as falling to the earth like unripe figs in a winter gale.8 Isaiah spoke of the starry host falling like withered leaves from the vine (Isa 34:4). It is one of the signs that immediately precede the coming of the Son of man (Matt 13:25–26). The falling of stars upon the earth could mean but one thing to the ancient—the end had come. The sky will recede like an unrolled papyrus scroll that, should it break in the middle, would roll quickly back on either side.9 The removing of every mountain and island from its place has no parallel in apocalyptic writing. It may have been suggested by Nah 1:5 (“the hills melt away”) or Jer 4:24 (“the mountains … were quaking; all the hills were swaying”).
We need not expect that these cataclysmic events will take place in a completely literal sense, although whatever they depict is sufficient to drive people in terror to the mountains, where they plead for death rather than face the wrath of the Lamb (vv. 15–17)—an unlikely consequence if they symbolize no more than social and political upheavals. Elsewhere in Revelation people are pictured as so adamant in pursuing their own goals that neither demonic plague (9:20) nor scorching heat is sufficient to make them repent. Nothing short of the awesome dissolution of the world itself will strike terror to the heart of people in the last days.
15–17 For the enemies of righteousness the day of the Lord will be a day of terror. Isaiah writes that “every man’s heart will melt … they will writhe like a woman in labor” (Isa 13:7–8). “Who can stand when he appears?” asks Malachi; “for he will be like a refiner’s fire” (Mal 3:2). John pictures the people of earth fleeing to the mountains and crying for death rather than standing before the judgment of God and the wrath of the Lamb.10
In listing the various groups that seek refuge in that great day of wrath, it is not John’s intention to cover the entire range of human society but to emphasize that those who might normally have reason to feel secure will be utterly undone.11 The kings of the earth are those in positions of ultimate governmental authority. The princes are next in rank. The generals are military authorities at whose word the Roman armies advanced into battle.12 In that day the proud monarchs as well as the hardened military will flee in terror. The security of the rich and the mighty will be shattered, and all alike will panic in wild confusion.
John’s graphic portrayal reflects Isaiah’s description of the day of the Lord as a time when people will seek refuge in the caves of the rocks from dread of the Lord (Isa 2:10, 19, 21). From the day when Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of God (Gen 3:8), the guilty conscience has made people fugitives from God. But now there is no longer a place to hide. God will confront in judgment all those who have rebelled against his sovereign authority. People’s terrified appeal for the mountains and rocks to fall on them reflects Hos 10:8 (“They will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’ ”), a verse applied by Jesus to the coming destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 22:30). Better death by a crushing avalanche than face the wrath of the Lamb.13
The wrath of God is a fundamental theme in NT teaching. It is both a present reality (Rom 1:18) and an eschatological event (Rev 19:15). It is neither personal vindictiveness nor an impersonal process of retribution that works itself out in the course of history.14 It is rather the “response of [God’s] holiness to persistent and impenitent wickedness.”15 The wrath of the Lamb, however, is an unusual and dramatic expression. Only once in the Gospels is the word for wrath used of Jesus (Mark 3:5). Yet if Christ as the Lamb in Revelation is primarily messianic rather than sacrificial (cf. comm. on 5:6), the element of paradox is not as pronounced as it is usually thought to be.16
The prophet Joel described the day of the Lord as “great [and] dreadful” (Joel 2:11; cf. v. 31). It is a day of wrath and retribution (Zeph 1:14–18). According to those attempting to escape the presence of God and the Lamb, this day of wrath has come.17 Their rhetorical question “Who can stand?” echoes Nah 1:6 (“Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger?”—cf. Mal 3:2). The announcement of the end need not be understood as the mistaken opinion of terrified humankind. The beginning of the end has arrived, and the plagues of 8:7–9:21 and 16:2–21 follow upon the actual opening of the seven-sealed scroll.
So the stage is set. Six of the seven seals have been opened, and John’s readers have learned of the “Four Horsemen” who leave a trail of death and destruction across the panorama of history. They have heard the agonizing plea of the martyrs for judgment on their oppressors and the vindication of their faithfulness that led to death. You may be sure that God will act. The universe itself will be subject to violent convulsions, and the unbelieving world will do their best to escape the wrath of the Lamb. So fierce will be that wrath that the question must be asked, “Who can stand?” (v. 17). The answer is that they, the martyrs and all they represent, will come through victorious. The “Four Horsemen” portray the sad history of our planet—conquest, war, famine, and death. As followers of the slain Lamb, God’s people suffer persecution and martyrdom. Their cry for vindication leads to the fundamental theological point of revelation—that God will vindicate himself by vindicating his people. The faithful are to live with the assurance that God is in command of his universe. At the moment it may appear that the forces of evil have gained the edge, but the one who defeated those very forces by means of his sacrificial death on the cross will return at the end of time to claim his own people and destroy forever all that stands in opposition.
INTERLUDE: VISIONS OF SECURITY AND SALVATION (7:1–17)
Chapter 7 comes as a parenthesis between the sixth and seventh seals—a stylistic feature repeated in the trumpet sequence (10:1–11:13) but not with the bowls (cf. 16:12–21). It also serves as a dramatic interlude1 that delays for a brief moment the disclosure of that which is to take place when the seventh and final seal is removed from the scroll of destiny. The chapter consists of two visions—one, the sealing of the 144,000, and the other, the blessedness of the great multitude before the heavenly throne. A great deal has been written about the identity of the 144,000 as well as the relationship between the two visions. The position taken in the following pages is that in both visions the church is in view, but from two vantage points. Prior to the trumpet judgments the last generation of believers is sealed so as to be saved from the destruction coming upon the earth and to be brought safely into the heavenly kingdom.2 The second vision is anticipatory of the eternal blessedness of all believers when in the presence of God they realize the rewards of faithful endurance. The visions contrast the security and blessedness that await the faithful with the panic of a pagan world fleeing from judgment. In a sense it answers the question just posed, “Who can stand?” (6:17).
1. Sealing of God’s Servants (7:1–8)
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3“Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
6from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
1 John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of destruction.3 In apocalyptic thought the forces of nature are often pictured as under the charge of angels. Later in Revelation we are introduced to “the angel in charge of the waters” (16:5) and the angel “who had charge of the fire” (14:18).4 The four angels are pictured as standing at the four corners of the earth. This does not require that we understand first-century cosmology as believing in a square (or rectangular?) world. It is quite possible that the ancients conceived of the earth as a round disk. When Isaiah foretells the return of the remnant from “the four corners of the earth” (Isa 11:12, NKJ), he uses the expression in much the same way as we would today.
The four winds as destructive agents of God are a regular feature in apocalyptic. The harmful winds were not those that blew straight from the four quarters (N S E W) but those that blew diagonally (cf. 1 Enoch 76; cf. 34:3).5 In Dan 7:2 the four winds of heaven churn up the great sea, and the four great beasts come forth on their mission of destruction. In Jer 49:36ff. the four winds carry out the fierce anger of Yahweh upon Elam. According to the Apocalypse of Pseudo-John (xv), four great winds will sweep the face of the earth and cleanse it from sin. In our text the winds are held in check by the four angels until the servants of God are sealed. They are not to blow upon the earth or sea or against any tree.6 Trees are especially vulnerable to high winds and, caught in the maelstrom of a devastating storm, could picture the precarious nature of life on the face of the earth.7 The Greek text may be translated “lest a wind keep on blowing,” indicating that the winds of destruction have already begun to mount.8 In a semiarid land where vegetation withered easily, the sirocco—a hot wind from the southeast—came to play a part in the presentation of final destruction. Hosea speaks of the hot east wind as the “wind from the LORD … blowing in from the desert,” drying up springs and wells (13:15; cf. Zech 9:14; Isa 40:7, 24).9 That these winds are never referred to subsequently in Revelation is one argument for the position that 7:1–8 represents an earlier source that John incorporated into his apocalypse. It is supported by the notion that a Christian writer in identifying the church as the true Israel would probably not bother to list a detailed division of the twelve tribes (as in vv. 5–8). Thus some writers hold that John has borrowed a Jewish apocalyptic source in which the people of Israel are protected from some calamity by receiving the seal of God upon their foreheads, and has reapplied the material to the church as it enters the period of final turmoil upon the earth.10 The problem with this hypothesis is that John said he saw the four angels holding back the winds of destruction, he saw the angel come from the east with the seal of God, and he heard the number to be sealed. Unless one views Revelation essentially as a literary work by John based upon his theological insight about the end of the world, then it would appear that the most reasonable way to understand active verbs like “see” and “hear” is to take them at face value.
2–3 Another angel enters the vision, coming up from the east and calling to the four restraining angels to hold back destruction until the servants of God are sealed. This reference to the east may be no more than a picturesque detail, although some see in it a reminiscence of Ezek 43:4, where the glory of the Lord enters by the gate facing east. Others find an indirect reference to the Nativity story and the Wise Men who came from the east (Matt 2:1).11 In any case, it is appropriate that the angel who seals the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel should come from the direction of Palestine.
The seal that the angel brings is probably a signet ring like that used by Oriental kings to authenticate and protect official documents.12 From 14:1 we will learn that the mark it leaves on the forehead is “his name [the Lamb’s] and his Father’s name” (cf. 22:4). The followers of the beast also have a mark (16:2; 19:20)—the beast’s name (14:11) or the number of his name (13:17)—on their right hand or on their forehead (13:16; 14:9; 20:4 [Greek] says forehead and hand). The sealing of God’s servants is based on Ezekiel 9, where God instructs a man with an inkhorn to place an X13 on the forehead of all those who are deeply troubled over the sins of Jerusalem in order to protect them from the judgment coming upon the city. The seal should not be interpreted in a sacramental sense as referring to baptism.14 Its primary purpose is to insure protection for the believers in the coming judgments.15 The seal of God in 2 Tim 2:19 is “the Lord knows those who are his.” Ownership entails protection.
It is the seal of the living God that the angel brings. This designation is frequent in the OT. Upon crossing the Jordan, Joshua tells the people that “the living God” is among them (Josh 3:10). Hezekiah calls upon God to deliver Israel out of the hands of Sennacherib, who sent his messenger “to insult the living God” (2 Kgs 19:4, 16). The title is appropriate wherever God is about to intervene on behalf of his people. It contrasts the one true and eternal God with all the false and idolatrous gods of heathendom.
The servants of God are not a select group singled out from among the rest to receive the seal of God. They are the full number of faithful believers alive when that event takes place. The angel’s reference to them as “servants of our God” implies that human beings and angels are fellow servants in the service of God (cf. 19:10; 22:9).
4–8 No description of the sealing follows. John does not see but hears the number of those who have been sealed—144,000 out of every tribe of Israel. The identity of this group has been extensively discussed. A few commentators interpret the 144,000 as a literal reference to the nation Israel.16 But this interpretation seriously complicates the book of Revelation by bringing in racial distinctions that no longer exist in the NT purview. It disregards the historical fact that ten of the twelve tribes disappeared in Assyria, and the remaining two lost their separate identity when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70.
The number is obviously symbolic.17 Twelve (the number of tribes) is both squared and multiplied by a thousand—a twofold way of emphasizing completeness. It refers to that generation of faithful believers about to enter the final turbulent period that will mark the end of human history.18 That there are 144,000 (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) is a symbolic way of stressing that the church is the eschatological people of God who have taken up Israel’s inheritance. Their being sealed does not protect them from physical death but insures entrance into the heavenly kingdom. It indicates that they will remain faithful in the coming persecution.
The idea of the church as the new Israel appears to have grown out of Jesus’ promise to his disciples that they would one day “sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt 19:28; cf. Luke 22:30). Paul writes that the believer in Christ is the true Jew (Rom 2:29), and he refers to the church as “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16). James addresses his letter to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (1:1) when writing to the Christians scattered throughout the Roman world. Peter speaks of believers as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet 2:9), phrases taken directly from the OT (Isa 43:20; Exod 19:6) and reapplied to the NT church.
Some commentators would restrict the 144,000 to that portion of the entire church which in the last days is marked out for martyrdom. The martyrs under the fifth seal cried out for vindication and were told to rest a little while until the full number of their fellow servants should be killed (6:9–11).19 This interpretation is supported by reference to the prophetic role of the two witnesses in chapter 11 and the 144,000 in chapter 14 who are “purchased from among men, to be the first-fruits unto God” (14:4).
The arguments for identifying the 144,000 with a select group of martyrs, however, is far from conclusive.20 The detailed listing of the twelve tribes as well as the symbolism of the number emphasizes the idea of completeness. Twelve times 1,000 come from each tribe: no one is excluded. Further, there seems to be no place in Revelation for any believer who will not face martyrdom in the last days (cf. 13:15, “cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed”).21
Several irregularities appear in the listing of the twelve tribes. The first is that Judah rather than Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son) heads the list. The reason for this change is obvious. Christ belonged to the tribe of Judah (Heb 7:14; cf. Gen 49:10). Giving this priority to Judah would be perfectly natural for a Christian writer. The second is the inclusion of both Manasseh and Joseph, since Manasseh (as well as his brother Ephraim, who does not occur in this list) is included in Joseph. The answer to this peculiarity is perhaps bound up with yet another—the omission of Dan.
Some have suggested that Dan was inadvertently copied as Man, which was later taken as an abbreviation for Manasseh.22 This would solve both problems. Unfortunately, it is only conjecture unsupported by any solid evidence. Apparently Dan was omitted because of an early connection with idolatry. When the tribe of Dan migrated to the north and settled in Laish, they set up for themselves the graven image (Judg 18:30). Later Dan became one of the two great shrines in the northern kingdom (1 Kgs 12:29). In the Testament of Dan (5:6) Satan is said to be the prince of the tribe. Irenaeus, writing in the latter part of the second century, noted that the omission of Dan was due to a tradition that the Antichrist was to come from that tribe.23 This apparently rested on rabbinic interpretations of such passages as Gen 49:17 and Jer 8:16. Whatever the precise reason for omitting Dan, the inclusion of Manasseh was undoubtedly to bring the total number back to twelve.
There seems to be no particular reason for the order in which the tribes are given.24 The sequence should not be surprising in that the tribes are listed in some eighteen different orders in the OT, none of which agrees with the order in Revelation. By placing vv. 5c–6 after v. 8, one writer organized the list into the sons of Leah, Rachel, Zilpah (Leah’s maid), and Bilhah (Rachel’s maid).25 However that may be, the various irregularities of the list do not affect the interpretation of the passage. The 144,000 are faithful believers about to enter the period of final testing.
2. Bliss of the Redeemed in Heaven (7:9–17)
9After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their
shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The second vision of chapter 7 stands in marked contrast to the first. Instead of 144,000 there appears a great multitude that no one can number. Rather than being sealed for the impending persecution, they are said to have “come out of the great tribulation” (v. 14). No longer on earth, they crowd the throne room of heaven wearing victors’ robes and bearing the emblem of festive joy.26 The new vision anticipates a glorious day yet future when those who are to pass through the final persecution will enter the blessedness of the eternal state. The innumerable multitude includes far more than the 144,000 of the previous vision. All the faithful of every age are there. Some have been called upon to give their lives as martyrs. All have been prepared to pay the price of fidelity. They cry out in a loud voice declaring that it is to God and to the Lamb that they owe their salvation. The heavenly entourage (angels, elders, and living creatures) fall before the throne and worship God. “Who are these dressed in white robes and from where did they come?” asks one of the elders. Answering his own question he identifies the innumerable multitude as those who have come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. They stand before God in the righteousness of Christ. God blesses them with protection and freedom from want. The Lamb leads them to springs of joy, and the tears of earth’s sorrows are wiped away by God himself.
The purpose of the vision is to grant a glimpse of eternal blessedness to those about to enter the world’s darkest hour. For a brief period John is privileged to look beyond this age to the hour of ultimate triumph. The entire scene is not unlike the Transfiguration in which Jesus revealed his coming glory to disciples who had only recently learned of the suffering that lay ahead for the Son of man (Mark 8:32; 9:2–8). Without doubt it is one of the most exalted portrayals of the heavenly state to be found anywhere in Scripture. There are no less than three paeans of praise, and the lyric prose of vv. 15–17 is charged with a spiritual excitement that has caused the faithful of all ages to yearn for that final redemption.
9–10 The vision begins with a great throng standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. The elders, living creatures, and angels of chapters 4 and 5 are now joined with so vast a multitude of redeemed that to number them would be impossible. In every direction they stretch out as far as the eye can see. As God promised Abraham, they are in number as the stars of heaven (Gen 15:5) and the sand of the sea (Gen 32:12). The universality of the multitude is stressed by the fourfold division into nations, tribes, peoples, and languages.27 Their robes of white symbolize not only the victory of faith but the righteousness of Christ. Verse 14 specifically says that the robes are white by virtue of being washed in the blood of the Lamb. Victory by sacrifice is a recurring motif in Revelation (cf. 5:9, 12). The palm branches are appropriate in this scene of festive joy. Those who went out to meet Jesus as he rode toward Jerusalem on the day of the triumphal entry carried palm branches and cried out “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13).28
With a single voice the great multitude cries out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”29 This salvation is more than their victorious passage through hardship and suffering. It is deliverance from everything that stands over against the blessedness portrayed in vv. 15–17. It is salvation from sin and all its dire consequences.30 The great multitude joyfully acknowledges that their deliverance rests on the sovereign will of God and the redemptive activity of the Lamb. Weymouth translates, “To our God … and to the Lamb, we owe our salvation!”
11–12 The thousands upon thousands of angels that surround the throne (5:11) respond to the jubilant cry of the saints by falling prostrate before God and offering to him a sevenfold doxology of praise. The redemption of the human race, that ultimate purpose of God in creation, has at last been realized. If there is “rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10), how unbelievably great will be the joyful adoration of the heavenly host when all the redeemed stand before their God! We need not inquire into the relative positions of the angels and the saints around the throne. Visions are not for diagramming but for insight into truths that lie beyond the ken of human intelligence.
The two “Amens” are liturgical, prefacing and concluding the angelic doxology.31 The repetition of the article before each attribute (in the Greek text; as in 4:11) tends to heighten its meaning. For instance, it is not simply a blessing that the angelic hosts have in mind, but the blessing (AV).32 Six of the seven attributes occur in an earlier doxology (5:12) but in a totally different order.33 Glory is the radiance of the divine Person. In this context wisdom is the divine knowledge God exhibited in his plan of redemption (cf. Eph 3:10). Thanks is the appropriate response for salvation, and honor its public acknowledgment. If power is God’s ability to act, strength is his redemptive presence in the events of history. This ascription of praise is apparently directed both to God and the Lamb, although the latter is not specifically mentioned here (cf. vv. 12, 14, 17).
13–14 One of the elders, anticipating the question that John is about to ask, inquires rhetorically, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” Prompted by the Seer, he answers that they are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The question and answer format is often used in prophetic literature for introducing the explanation of a vision. Following Zechariah’s vision of the golden lampstand and the two olive trees, an angel poses the question, “Do you not know what these are?” (4:5). When the prophet admits his lack of understanding, the angel proceeds to explain the visions.34 John’s mode of address to the angel (“My lord,” NEB, Knox)35 is in keeping with the reverence he shows for angelic beings elsewhere in the book (cf. 19:10; 22:8–9). In itself it does not necessarily imply a supernatural person. It may be only an expression of courtesy such as Mary used to the gardener on Easter morning (John 20:15). “You know” (the personal pronoun is emphatic) expresses John’s lack of understanding and his confidence in the ability of his interpreter.
The white-robed multitude are those who have come out of the great tribulation. Charles interprets the scene as one in which martyrs are still arriving from the great persecution.36 The larger context favors a point in time when the complete number of the redeemed stand before God and the blessings of the eternal state are about to be realized.
The use of the definite article in the phrase “the great tribulation” indicates that the angel is referring primarily to that final series of woes which will immediately precede the end. It is the hour of trial that is to come upon the whole world (3:10). It is not “the awesome totality of tribulation which from century to century has been the experience of the people of God”37 nor does it correspond to “the entire history of the church—past, present, and future.”38 It is that specific period of distress and cruel persecution which will take place prior to the return of Christ. Prophesied by Daniel (12:1) and reflected on the screen of history at the fall of Jerusalem (Mark 13:19 and parallels), it finds its fulfillment in that final persecution which supplies the full complement of Christian martyrs (6:11). John views the entire company of faithful believers in the light of the 144,000 who have just come through the final period of testing. Not all are martyrs. There is no mention here of being slain (as in 6:9) or beheaded (as in 20:4) for the testimony they bore. Their robes are white by virtue of the redemptive death of the Lamb. Their rewards are those of all the faithful. Persecution has always been the lot of those who follow the Lamb (John 16:33; 2 Tim 3:12). The intensity of the final conflict of righteousness and evil will rise to such a pitch as to become the great tribulation.
The multitude before the throne have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The tense of both verbs (aorist) indicates once-for-all actions that took place in the past.39 The cleansing effect of the blood of Christ is also pictured in such verses as Heb 9:24 (“the blood of Christ … [will] cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death”) and 1 John 1:7 (“the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin”). The background may be Exodus 19, where the children of Israel wash their garments in readiness for the descent of Jehovah upon Mt. Sinai (Exod 19:10, 14). The prophet Isaiah compares the righteous acts of Israel to “filthy rags” (64:6; cf. Zech 3:3–5), but elsewhere promises that “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (1:18). The idea of making robes white by washing them in blood40 is a striking paradox. It is the sacrifice of the Lamb upon the cross that supplies white garments for the saints. Their act of washing the robes is not a meritorious work but a way of portraying faith.
15 It is because they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ that the multitude is able to stand before the throne of God. There they serve him day and night.41“Day and night” is an idiom meaning unceasingly or without pause.42 The temple in which the faithful serve is not to be thought of as a building in heaven. In John’s vision heaven itself is the sanctuary: within, all God’s children are worshiping priests (1:6; 5:10).43 Their service is not the ritual performance of Levitical priests but a spiritual worship of adoration and praise (cf. 22:3–5). The same verb is used of Anna the prophetess, who “never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.”44 The shift to the future tense in vv. 15c–17 does not intend to separate in time the arrival of the redeemed and their heavenly reward. Once they have been clothed in white and are before the throne, the blessings of heaven are theirs without delay. Both time and space are finite categories that blend together in the visionary experience. From the throne room in heaven is projected a description of life upon the new earth (21:3).
The promise that God will spread his tent over them would evoke memories of the tabernacle in the wilderness (Lev 26, etc.), the pillar of cloud and of fire (Exod 13:21–22), and the Shekinah glory (the radiance of God’s presence in the midst of his people; cf. Exod 40:34–38; also 2 Chron 7:1–3). For the tent to be over his people is a way of saying that the immediate presence of God will shelter and protect them from all that would harm (Isa 4:5–6). It is the fulfillment of the OT promise that God will dwell in the midst of his people (Ezek 37:27; Zech 2:10). The RSV translates, “He who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence,” that is, “will make his Shekinah to dwell with them”.45
16–17 The eternal blessedness of the redeemed is pictured in phrases drawn for the most part from Isaiah’s description of the exiles returning from Babylon (Isa 49:10). The promise that they will neither hunger nor thirst would be especially meaningful in an ancient land where both were constant threats. Yet the promise goes beyond physical privation. It points to that ultimate satisfaction of the soul’s deepest longing for spiritual wholeness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” said Jesus, “for they will be filled” (Matt 5:6). And again, “He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35; cf. 4:14; 7:37). In the age to come neither sun nor scorching east wind will strike the redeemed.46 They are sheltered from all discomfort by the presence of God.
The idea of the Lamb as the shepherd of God’s flock is an intriguing exchange of roles.47 Elsewhere in the writings of John, Christ is pictured as the good shepherd (John 10:1–30; 21:15–17; cf. 1 John 3:16 with John 10:11).48 The metaphor builds on the OT picture of God as the shepherd of Israel. Such passages as Ps 23:1 (“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want”) and Isa 40:11 (“He tends his flock like a shepherd”) speak of the gentle care and daily provision of the ancient shepherd. God through Ezekiel tells of a coming shepherd—“my servant David”—who is to tend his flock (Ezek 34:23). Christ is this promised good shepherd.
Elsewhere in Revelation, the shepherding activity of the Lamb is of a radically different sort. He is to rule (shepherd)49 the nations with an iron scepter (12:5; 19:15). In 2:27 the overcomers at Thyatira are promised a share in this rule. With an iron scepter they will shepherd the nations; they will “dash them to pieces like pottery.”50
The Lamb as heavenly shepherd leads his flock to the wellspring of life and wipes away the last trace of earthly sorrow. “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed,” sang Moses and the children of Israel (Exod 15:13). “Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness,” prayed the Psalmist (Ps 5:8). As God has led in the past, so will he lead in the future. He directs the heavenly multitude to the fountain and source of life—that is, to the immediate presence of God. The inverted syntax of the expression in Greek lays emphasis on the word “life.”51 The Psalmist says that people will drink from the river of God’s delights, for with him is the fountain of life (Ps 36:8–9). The same concept lies behind Jesus’ promise that “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14; cf. 7:38; and the “inexhaustible fountain of righteousness” in 1 Enoch 48:1). As in the preceding verse, the figure points beyond itself to that ultimate satisfaction of people’s spiritual longings. As a fresh-water spring in a semiarid land would be to a shepherd and his thirsty flock, so will be the eternal presence of God to redeemed humanity in their longing for spiritual wholeness.
The tears that God wipes away are not the tears of grief over a wasted life. Rather, like the tears of a child brought suddenly from sorrow to delight, they linger rather ridiculously on the faces of the redeemed.52
Some interpreters have suggested that John, by the use of this hymn, is indoctrinating prospective martyrs for their coming ordeal.53 While a glimpse into the bliss of heaven would certainly encourage Christians caught in a hostile world, to interpret the vision as premeditated indoctrination scarcely does credit to the integrity of the Seer.
***
Following the interlude of chapter 7 in which John sees the church on earth protected by the seal of God and the church in heaven triumphant and praising God, action resumes and John records the opening of the seventh seal by the Lamb. While one might expect some great and concluding scene, there follows rather a dramatic half hour of silence. Then an angel offers up incense to God along with the prayers of the saints and casts the burning embers down upon the earth. The seven trumpet-angels raise their instruments in preparation to sound another series of seven judgments.
Many suggestions have been offered to explain the relationship between the three major series of judgments (seals, trumpets, and bowls). One solution would be a strictly chronological arrangement, with each new series evolving from the seventh element of the previous series.54 While it is true that from a literary perspective the seven trumpets seem to be an expansion of the seventh seal and the seven bowls a development of the seventh trumpet, the idea of the three series presenting a precise sequence of future events runs into considerable trouble when attention is given to the details of the book. Even when it is granted that the Revelation contains certain proleptic visions for the purpose of encouragement, the remainder of the book does not leave the impression of an orderly and temporally sequential development.
Most of the other solutions involve some sort of recapitulation, an approach that goes back to at least Victorinus of Pettau in the third century.55 While there is obviously a rather close similarity between the first four items in both the trumpets and the seals there are also significant differences when all the elements are compared.56
The position maintained in the following discussion is that the visions of John neither follow in a strict chronological sequence nor do they systematically recapitulate one another. While there is a rather clearly discernible literary development,57 it is not intended to represent a corresponding chronological development.58 All three series cover the same period of travail with which human history is brought to its consummation. In that sense they cover the same period of time. Yet the individual plagues in each series are not intended to correspond with those in the other two. While the first four units in the trumpets and bowls affect earth, sea, land waters, and the heavens (8:7–12 and 16:2–8) in the same order, there are a number of differences. The major point is that the intensity of the plagues increases in each series.59 The seals affect “a fourth of the earth” (6:8), and the trumpets “a third of the earth” (8:7, 8, 11, 12), while the bowls complete the wrath of God (16:17). The relationship of the three series is best understood as a spiral of increasing severity. Each series deals with the tumultuous time just before the end, but as we move from seals to trumpets to bowls we are aware of the ever increasing tempo and severity of the plagues. The literary structure is not difficult to discern (the trumpets are an expansion of the seventh seal and the bowls an expansion of the seventh trumpet), but the interpretive relationship calls for an imagination freed from the prosaic mentality of the Western world and more open to the possibility of understanding that comes from insight rather than logic. All attempts to press the material into well-defined patterns60 leave the impression that John was more interested in producing a work of literary subtlety than sharing with his fellow believers the awe-inspiring visions that God had dramatically revealed to him.
One of the more helpful suggestions is to view John as a guide in an art gallery who has his students stand back to absorb a general impression (the sevenfold visions) and then move up to study the details (the unnumbered visions).61 Upon entering the Sistine Chapel one is staggered by its immensity and glory. Only after some time has passed is the viewer ready for a more detailed analysis of some of the specific items. An abstract painting resists all attempts to explain systematically why certain colors and lines appear as they do. The Apocalypse is the work of a creative artist and must not be pressed into a clearly defined plan.62
D. SEVENTH SEAL: A DRAMATIC PAUSE (8:1)
1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
1 When the seventh seal is opened, a great hush settles over the worshiping hosts of heaven. For a period of about half an hour there is breathless silence as all await the judgments of the scroll now unsealed. Kiddle judges it a “brilliant device for deepening the suspense.”1 It is similar to the restraining of the four winds of destruction (7:1–3) and the sealing up of the utterance of the seven thunders (10:4).
The silence is neither a symbol of eternal rest2 nor a necessary precaution so God can hear the prayers of the suffering saints.3 It is a dramatic pause that makes even more impressive the judgments about to fall upon the earth.4 We are reminded of the prophetic injunction, “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Hab 2:20; cf. Zeph 1:7–8; Zech 2:13).5 Although thirty minutes is a relatively short period, it would be an impressive break in such a rapidly moving drama. Apparently the angelic activity of vv. 2–5 takes place during this interval of silence. Trumpets are given to the seven angels before the throne. An angel standing over the altar mingles incense with the prayers of the saints,6 and taking fire from the golden altar fills his censer and casts it upon the earth. The intensity of the scene is heightened incredibly by the complete absence of any sound.