Studies In Revelation - Chapter Six
Words Of Truth

Words Of Truth


"That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth..." (Proverbs 22:21).

Studies In Revelation
Chapter Six


Revelation 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.”

  • The Lamb (Jesus - John 1:29; 1:36), who could open the book (Revelation 5:5-9), is opening one of the seals of the book.
  • John then heard the noise of thunder (Revelation 4:5; 11:19).
  • One of the four beasts (cf. Revelation 4:6-8).
  • The four beasts will say “come and see” (Revelation 6:3, Revelation 6:5, and Revelation 6:7).

Revelation 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.”

  • He who is on the white horse is Jesus (Revelation 19:11-16; cf. Revelation 1:9-20).
  • Jesus will overcome them (Revelation 17:14).
  • Jesus is the Lord of Lords (I Timothy 6:14-16).

Revelation 6:3 “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.”

  • As we saw in verse one and will see again, the beasts will say “Come and see.”
  • The second of seven seals (Revelation 5:1) is opened.

Revelation 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.”

  • Jesus has all power in Heaven and earth (Matthew 11:27, Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 1:20-22, and I Peter 3:22).
  • This second rider on the red horse had to be given power. The power he was given was to take peace from the earth. Peace and war are opposites (Psalms 120:7).
  • This is not a vision of saints in carnal warfare (II Corinthians 10:1-5).
  • Without reading too much into this, in the past God has even used and given authority to nations (Daniel 2:37-38) as a weapon to kill others (Isaiah 10:5-6 and Ezekiel 30:24-25).

Revelation 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.”

  • He [Jesus; Revelation 5:5] opened the third seal.
  • The third beast (Revelation 4:7).
  • As the context continues, we see “Come and see” (Revelation 6:1 and Revelation 6:3) as we will again two verses from now (Revelation 6:7).
  • Don’t read too much into the color of the horse (cf. Zechariah 6:1-8).
  • The rider of the horse had a pair of balances. The Greek word “χείρ” there normally means a yoke as translated in every other verse wherein the Greek word appears (Matthew 11:29-30, Acts 15:10, Galatians 5:1, and I Timothy 6:1). In light of the next verse, this is sort of confusing. Balances normally mean measuring weight either literally or figuratively (Job 31:6, Proverbs 16:11, and Isaiah 46:6), which seems to fit the next verse.

Revelation 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.”

  • There is a voice that comes from the midst of the four beasts. The message is not very clear to me. It could be that a penny was a day’s wage (Matthew 20:2), and thus things are expensive.
  • If this is economic judgment, economic judgment is something we see in the Scriptures directly from the hand of God (Leviticus 26:20, Deuteronomy 28:38-40, Jeremiah 12:13, Joel 1:10-12, Zephaniah 1:13, and Micah 6:9-16).
  • Then the plea not to hurt the oil and wine. The oil could be fuel, anointing oil, etc. (Matthew 25:3-4, Mark 6:13, Luke 16:6, etc.). Wine can be fermented or not (Matthew 9:17).

Revelation 6:7 “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.”

  • As we continue to read, “Come and see” (Revelation 6:1, Revelation 6:3, and Revelation 6:5).
  • The fourth beast (Revelation 4:7).
  • The fourth beast in Revelation is not the same as in Daniel (Daniel 7:7; 7:17; 7:23).

Revelation 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.”

  • The pale horse [not promising imagery] has a rider named “Death” (cf. Revelation 20:14). Remember who has the keys here (Revelation 1:18).
  • “Hell” here is “hades” (Matthew 16:18, Luke 16:23, and Acts 2:22-31).
  • This rider represents the sword, hunger, and death. These punishments are like what we see in Old Testament times (Jeremiah 11:20-22, Jeremiah 14:15-16, Jeremiah 24:1-10, and Ezekiel 5:12).
  • The beasts of the earth (Jeremiah 34:20).
  • Remember this! This shows physical, earthly judgment.


Revelation 6:9-10 “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: 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?”

  • This fifth seal is opened and the souls of those slain for the word of God are seen by John. The saints in Pergamos knew what it meant for saints to die for the faith (Revelation 2:13).
  • There had been plenty of blood shed throughout history, recorded in the Scriptures in addition to Jesus, for the sake of the word of God and their witness testimonies (I Kings 18:4, II Chronicles 24:20-22, Nehemiah 9:26, Luke 11:47-50, Acts 7:51-50, Acts 12:1-2, etc.).
  • While this is certainly figurative, it is good to remember that life does not end at physical death (Matthew 22:23-33, Luke 16:19-31, Luke 23:39-43, etc.).
  • Think about what John saw them saying. They cried out for vengeance (Psalms 58:10-11 and II Thessalonians 1:6-8) from the holy and true Lord (cf. Revelation 3:7).

Revelation 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.”

  • The slain prophets, in this vision John is receiving, were given white robes (cf. Revelation 3:4-5).
  • Then this sad message is given to those slain prophets, the death of the faithful is not over yet. So it shall also be that John will later see God pouring out judgment on those who shed the blood of saints (Revelation 19:1-6).
  • We will also later see the church coming back with no more death and sorrow as these horrible things will pass (Revelation 21:4; cf. Revelation 1:1-3, Revelation 2:10, and Revelation 22:6-10).

Revelation 6:12-13 “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; 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.”

  • The Lord’s past judgments on earth have included like language as this (Isaiah 29:6 and Ezekiel 32:7-9). We will later talk about bowls of wrath with a great earthquake (Revelation 16:17-21).
  • The kingdom of Christ was prophesied to come with wonders in the sky (Joel 2:28-32) and such was fulfilled (Acts 2:16-21).
  • When God was directly acting He wanted it to be clear that it was not a coincidence. It was Him at work (Isaiah 42:8 and Isaiah 48:11).

Revelation 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.”

  • This type of language appeared in Isaiah’s prophecy about Idumea (Isaiah 34:1-8). Again, judgment language that appears when nations were judged by God.

Revelation 6:15-17 “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; 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: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

  • It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31; cf. Psalms 50:22, Psalms 76:7, Psalms 89:7, Psalms 90:11, Isaiah 13:9, and Malachi 4:1).
  • Think about wanting death by rocks falling on them rather than the wrath the Lord sends forth (cf. Jeremiah 7:30-8:3).
  • When God is angry, when His judgment is being let loose, who could stand (Nahum 1:1-6)? Think about the point God made to Job (Job 41:1-10).