Explanation: In Revelation 6 John saw the Lamb open six of the seals of the seven-sealed book. The revelations of the book come as visions, not as words. It is as if the words of the book came alive.
      When the Lamb opened the first seal, John heard thunder, and one of the living beings told him to come and see. And John saw a white horse. Its rider had a bow. He wore a crown, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. This is a symbol of Conquest. (1-2).
     When the second seal was opened, John saw a red horse, and its rider had power (represented by a great sword) to take peace from the earth and to induce the inhabitants of earth to kill one another. This is a symbol of War (3-4).
     When the third seal was opened, John saw a black horse. Its rider had a pair of balances. And a voice came from the midst of the four living creatures, proclaiming that a measure of wheat and three measures of barley would be sold for a day's wages, and the oil and the wine would be unharmed. This is a symbol of Famine (5-6).
     When the fourth seal was opened, John saw a pale horse. Its rider was Death, and Hell followed him. They had power (authority) over a fourth of the earth to kill using the sword, hunger death, and beasts of the earth. This is a symbol of Death (7-8).
     When the fifth seal was opened, John saw below the altar the souls of the martyrs. And they asked the holy and true Lord how long it would be before their killers would be judged. In response, white robes were given to them, and they were encouraged to rest for a little season until martyrs of the future were killed (9-11).
     When the sixth seal was opened, a great earthquake struck. The sun became black, and the moon became blood red. These two events happen during an eclipse, and phrases similar to these occur in many places in the Old testament, especially in the Prophets. The stars of heaven fell. Heaven departed as a scroll which is rolled together. Every mountain and island moved out of their place. Everyone, great and small, hid in dens and rocks of the mountains, and they called on mountains and the rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb because no one can stand before him (12-17).
     [Sermons: Eric Alexander. William Still. Sinclair B Ferguson. Various. ]
     [Illustration: Today's painting depicts the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which appear in today's chapter as the Lamb opens the first four seals of the seven-sealed book. Elements of the fifth and sixth seal may also be present: in the upper right of the painting (viewer's perspective) slain bodies are seen in heaven (perhaps martyrs) representing an element of the fifth seal, and darkness is heavy in the background, representing an element of the sixth seal. ]

     ¹² 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; ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. ¹⁵ 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; ¹⁶ 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: ¹⁷ For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

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