1 The Opening of the First Seal, Ch. 6:1, 2
The Lamb as the ruler and revealer of destiny opens the seals. At the call of one of the four living creatures, “come”,[390] a white horse and his rider, who bears a bow, the sign of warfare, and receives a crown, the token of victory, appear in view, representing Christ going forth conquering and to conquer,[391] a vision depicting the beginning and trend of the gospel age: the symbol of the victory of Christ's cause attained through conflict, Christianity triumphing in the earth,—for the progress of the life of the church is viewed like that of the national life of Israel as marked by constant conflict. The assurance of victory is made to precede the revelation of trial as a ground of comfort and confidence throughout the succeeding seals. We may properly regard the contents of this seal as a present view of the onward course of the [pg 126] church, the details of which are to be imagined rather than described, a suggestive picture which stamps itself upon the mind, for the figure of the crowned and conquering Christ once distinctly seen can never be effaced but marks all our after-thought of him. This vision was realized in some measure in the splendid growth of the church in the first and following centuries, but the full realization of its promise lies in the fulness of the ages (ch. 19:11-21)—Christ is ever moving on through the years to final victory.
Many historical interpreters find in this rider the symbol of conquest, especially of judgment on the Roman Empire by the Parthians, indicated by the bow, their usual weapon, and premonitory of the end.[392] In that case the first seal, like the succeeding ones, would indicate a form of trial to the church. Others see in the rider the sign of Roman conquest, and in the subsequent seals precursors of the destruction of Jerusalem, assuming the earlier date of the book. These views, however, fail to recognize the close similarity and apparent identity of the rider in this vision with the one on the white horse in chapter nineteen (v. 11) who is evidently divine;[393] nor do they agree with the above view as to the scope of the seals, but limit them to the first century, while in the interpretation given in this work they reach forward throughout the history of the church to the end of time. We must be duly careful, according to the symbolic view, not to limit the prophecy to too narrow a scope in its complete fulfilment, and especially not to exclude the world-wide and universal reference, even though it be regarded as the secondary meaning, since to many minds this is the essential and larger thought in the vision. For we should not forget that while the visions of the Apocalypse, like the voices of prophecy and the parables and teachings of our Lord, had their immediate occasion and purpose, yet this becomes in turn the ground and instrument of a wider and permanent divine message to all mankind, and that this is the message which is our chief concern.
2 The Opening of the Second Seal, Ch. 6:3, 4
At the call of the second living creature, “Come”, a red horse and his rider appear, to whom is given a great sword, and power to take peace from the earth: the symbol of war, and of consequent trial to the church. The blood-red horse with his armed rider betokens the carnage of battle, and suggests all the horrors of bloodshed with its accompanying train of suffering. It is a prediction not of any particular war or wars, but of war in general, as the “wars and rumors of wars” in our Saviour's discourse (Mt. 24:6). And it was only as it was “given unto him” (v. 4), we are told, that the rider could accomplish his mission, thereby indicating the divine authority, limitation, and restraint. The sword is the same as the sacrificial knife, and the term used for slaying in the passage is the Greek term for killing the sacrificial victim, which may be intended to imply that the slaughter of the saints is to be included with others.[394] The contents of this seal were realized to some extent in the Jewish war connected with the fall of Jerusalem, and in the subsequent wars of the Roman Empire which entailed great suffering upon the church as well as upon the world. The form of the prophecy, however, does not preclude reference to the then past as well as to present and to future events; it points to the experience of God's children in every age, to the Jewish as well as the Christian church, though doubtless with the future specially in view. These sorrows have been repeated again and again in the numberless wars of history, and may be repeated afresh in the future, for war is a constant trial of the church throughout the centuries. The symbol of the armed rider on the blood-red horse presents a vivid picture of the horrors of war. It was a figure which spoke to the imaginative Eastern mind with a power superior to words, especially to those who had known in their own experience the destructive ravages of war; but the details were left to be supplied by individual thought.
3 The Opening of the Third Seal, Ch. 6:5, 6
At the call of the third living creature, “Come”, a black horse and his rider appear, weighing out grain with a balance: the symbol of famine, want, and consequent [pg 128] suffering by the church. This expressive figure of the black horse and his rider with a balance foretold in a form that surpassed the power of language to describe, the prevailing gloom and distress of famine. Grain is sold by weight instead of measure, thereby indicating its scarcity (Ezek. 4:16), and the price is from eight to twelve times its usual cost, the food of a working man requiring his entire wages, and leaving those dependent on him without support.[395] The famine indicated is not, however, any special season of want, but recurrent famine as a condition of trial, and is limited in its extent, as indicated by preserving the oil and the wine which may be regarded as typical articles of food, or the best of the things of common life[396]—a famine affecting the poor rather than the rich, the multitude rather than the few. The contents of this seal were realized in prevailing famines such as that under Claudius, that at the siege of Jerusalem, and many other seasons of want which have occurred at different times throughout the ages, but especially in the ancient world and in the Far East. The emaciation and terror produced by hunger and want was a form of suffering too well known among the inhabitants of those lands to need any further emphasis—it spoke a language of its own to all those who had felt its power.