Each seal is broken
Key Verses: 1, 4, 6, 8,
10, 14, 16
Trying to understand what John saw
can be very difficult. He used his language and visual experiences to record
what he saw. We use our language and visual experiences to interpret what we
read. And these two datasets are very different. Keep this in mind a you read.
To put it another way, perhaps it
might be helpful to approach this chapter with the question, “What is his
point?”
With each opening of a seal John is
told to come. He comes and observes what
happens when the seal is broken. Since it is a scroll with words on both sides
you would expect just that, more words revealed. But instead various scenes
unfold. It almost seems as if the scroll comes to life and the events of the
scroll become the events of that moment in John's life. The horses arise and
invade his space-time envelope. Remember, he used his experience to write about
something he had never experienced before, and we read it and try to understand
it with our experiences.
Four horses enter with the first four
seals. They each interact with John's world in particular ways. Ruling power,
peace, economic forces, and an upending of the created order – it comes
unglued. Things we think are so important are removed in an instant. We
struggle with these same forces each day, and yet we rarely involve the Lord in
these realms. We think we can do it ourselves, that we don't need Him. And yet
when He removes His steadying control it all falls apart.
Then the Martyrs' longing for justice
is heard. They have waited for earth-time to click forward to see the wrong
made right. They begin to get justice.
The earth gets the beginning of a
makeover. The earth itself is not permanent. God will remove the sky and level
the playing field. Every place that a false god might have inhabited is
removed.
And when all this happens, John sees
the unbelievers filled with fear. They try to hide from God's coming judgment.
They know it is coming for them. They know they deserve it. And they in vain
try to hide. Just like Adam and Eve they think they can cover their guilt. But
they know they are cooked.