The seven seals
Six of the seven seals are opened in this chapter. The seals contain the visions and spoken prophecies of the things that will happen on earth to the Christian church until Jesus Christ comes again, the human governments and all opposition are totally subdued and the kingdom of God established here on earth. Hallelujah! Jesus Christ depicted as the Lamb is the only one qualified to open these seals and lay bare their contents. It follows that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our mediator in heaven, is also directly involved in the things happening on earth especially with those signs directly related to his second coming. What an honour bestowed on him by his Father! He is indeed worthy.
Four of the seals involves a rider the judgment of God by the hand of a rider on a specific horse:
- White Horse
- Fiery red Horse
- Black Horse
- Pale Green Horse
The Earth
The book of Revelation is highly symbolic. In many cases, the Earth refers to the Western Roman Empire or the Latin kingdom and the people and tribes of Western Europe especially. This is the place where the dragon was cast down and we have explained this Earth symbol in Revelation 12 study. The events of the 4 seals have a lot to do with this territory.
The Sea
The sea in the Apocalypse represents a multitude of people. Of course, multitudes can gather in any part of the world but in some circumstances, this symbol applies specifically to the Mediterranean Sea and especially the Eastern Roman Empire as we explained in Chapter 13.
Back to the Seven seals, it starts with the White Horse that conquered, to the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet which ushered in the kingdom of God in Revelation 11:15. This means that the Vision of the 7 seals is simply a prophecy of what will happen in the world from Point A of the White Horse to Point Z of the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Key to the interpretation of the seals
The interpretation of the things revealed in these seals have their fulfilment in our history and that is what makes it difficult as it is the reader’s responsibility to find the exact fulfilment of these prophecies in our history. A lot has happened in the past and a lot will still happen now and in the future before Christ comes. So, it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact periods in history that the Bible prophecies speak about.
In my interpretation of these seals, I want to let the Bible lead and my key is to interpret from the known to the unknown. What I am going to write may be new but I am confident that the Bible can lead us in the direction of accurate interpretation even if there are some errors in this book. At least we will be a step closer to the truth than before and others can further improve on this.
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