Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Revelation
Book: Revelation
Chapter: 6
Overview:
The opening of the seals, The first, second, third, and
fourth.
(1-8) The fifth.
(9-11) The sixth.
(12-17)
1-8 Christ, the
Lamb, opens the first
Seal: observe what
appeared. A rider
On a
White Horse.
By the going forth of this
White Horse, a time of peace, or the early progress of the
Christian religion, seems to be intended; its going forth in
purity, at the time when its heavenly Founder sent his apostles
to teach all nations, adding, Lo! I am with you alway, even to
the
End of the world. The Divine religion goes out crowned,
having the Divine favour resting upon it, armed spiritually
against its foes, and destined to be victorious in the
End.
On
opening the second
Seal, a red
Horse appeared; this signifies
desolating judgments. The
Sword of
War and
Persecution is a
dreadful
Judgment; it takes away peace from the
Earth, one of
the greatest blessings; and men who should
Love one another, and
help one another, are set upon killing one another. Such scenes
also followed the pure
Age of early Christianity, when,
neglectful of
Charity and the
Bond of peace, the
Christian
leaders, divided among themselves, appealed to the
Sword, and
entangled themselves in guilt.
On opening the third
Seal, a
Black Horse appeared; a
Colour denoting mourning and woe,
Darkness and ignorance. He that sat
On it had a
Yoke in his
Hand. Attempts were made to
Put a
Yoke of superstitious
observances
On the disciples. As the stream of Christianity
flowed further from its pure
Fountain, it became more and more
corrupt. During the progress of this
Black Horse, the
necessaries of
Life should be at excessive prices, and the more
costly things should not be hurt. According to prophetic
language, these articles signified that
Food of religious
knowledge,
By which the souls of men are sustained unto
Everlasting Life; such we are invited to buy, Isa 55:1. But
when the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition, denoted
By
the
Black Horse, spread over the
Christian world, the knowledge
and practice of true religion became scarce. When a people
loathe their spiritual
Food,
God may justly deprive them of
their daily
Bread. The
Famine of
Bread is a terrible
Judgment;
but the
Famine of the
Word is more
So. Upon opening the fourth
Seal, another
Horse appeared, of a pale
Colour. The rider was
Death, the
King of terrors. The attendants, or followers of this
King of terrors,
Hell, a state of eternal misery to all who die
in their sins; and in times of general
Destruction, multitudes
go down unprepared into the
Pit. The period of the fourth
Seal
is one of great slaughter and devastation, destroying whatever
may tend to make
Life happy, making ravages
On the spiritual
lives of men. Thus the
Mystery of iniquity was completed, and
its power extended both over the lives and consciences of men.
The exact times of these four seals cannot be ascertained, for
the changes were gradual.
God gave them power, that is, those
instruments of his
Anger, or those judgments: all public
calamities are at his command; they only go forth when
God sends
them, and
No further than he permits.
9-11 The sight the
Apostle beheld at the opening the fifth
Seal
was very affecting. He saw the souls of the martyrs under the
Altar; at the foot of the
Altar in
Heaven, at the feet of
Christ. Persecutors can only kill the body; after that there is
No more they can do; the soul lives.
God has provided a good
place in the better world, for those who are
Faithful unto
Death. It is not their own
Death, but the
Sacrifice of
Christ,
that gives them entrance into
Heaven. The cause in which they
suffered, was for the
Word of God; the best any
Man can lay down
his
Life for;
Faith in
God's
Word, and the unshaken
Confession
of that
Faith. They commit their cause to Him to whom vengeance
belongs. The
Lord is the
Comforter of his afflicted servants,
and precious is their
Blood in his sight. As the
Measure of the
Sin of persecutors is filling up,
So is the number of the
persecuted, martyred servants of
Christ. When this is fulfilled,
God will send
Tribulation to those who trouble them, and
unbroken happiness and
Rest to those that are troubled.
12-17 When the sixth
Seal was opened, there was a great
Earthquake. The foundations of churches and states would be
terribly shaken. Such bold figurative descriptions of great
changes abound in the prophecies of
Scripture; for these events
are emblems, and declare the
End of the world and the
Day of
Judgment. Dread and terror would seize
On all sorts of men.
Neither grandeur, riches, valour, nor strength, can support men
at that time. They would be glad to be
No more seen; yea, to
have
No longer any being. Though
Christ be a
Lamb, he can be
angry, and the wrath of the
Lamb is exceedingly dreadful; for if
the
Redeemer himself, who appeases the wrath of
God, be our
enemy, where shall we find a friend to plead for us? As men have
their
Day of opportunity, and their
Seasons of
Grace,
So God has
his
Day of righteous wrath. It seems that the overthrow of the
paganism of the Roman empire is here meant. The idolaters are
described as hiding themselves in their dens and secret caves,
and vainly seeking to escape ruin. In such a
Day, when the signs
of the times show those who believe in
God's
Word, that the
King
of
Kings is approaching, Christians are called to a decided
course, and to a bold
Confession of
Christ and his
Truth before
their fellowmen. Whatever they may have to endure, the short
contempt of
Man is to be borne, rather than that shame which is
Everlasting.