To listen to full unabridged audio listen here: Revelation 5 - Horses and the Multitude
We are moving into the “tricky stuff” today as we pick up in Revelation chapter 6. Up to this point, we’ve witnessed the glorious worship of the heavenly throne room. We’ve seen Jesus identified as the only one worthy to open the scroll—the representation of God’s will and His plan for the world. Now, we get to see that plan begin to unfurl.
The Limitation of the Linear
Before we dive into the seals, we have to address how we read this book. As humans, we read in a linear fashion—one word after another, one event after another. But the visions of Revelation don’t necessarily exist in a linear timeline.
The theologian N.T. Wright uses a beautiful musical analogy: the written word is limited, but music can be layered. In a great symphony by Mozart or Beethoven, the flutes are doing one thing, the clarinets another, and the trumpets something else—all at the same time—to create a masterpiece.
Revelation is like that. These aren’t necessarily chronological “ages” of history. These are snapshots, word pictures, and symbols of big-idea realities that are often happening simultaneously throughout human history.
The Four Horsemen (The First Four Seals)
When the Lamb opens the first four seals, four horses and their riders are released.
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The White Horse: There are two main theories here. One is that this represents Christ or the Gospel going out. However, given that the other three horses represent hardships, it’s more likely that the white horse represents conquering political and imperial powers—those who use worldly authority to oppress and conquer.
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The Red Horse: This rider is given a short sword (the kind used by Roman legionnaires) and the power to take peace from the earth. This represents general violence—the way human beings kill one another—and specifically the physical persecution of the Church.
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The Black Horse: Carrying a pair of scales, this rider represents economic oppression and disparity. The voice cries out prices for wheat and barley that represent a full day’s wages for barely enough food to survive, while the “oil and wine” (the luxuries of the rich) remain untouched.
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The Pale Horse: This rider is named Death, followed by Hades. This is a “catch-all” for pestilence and mortality—war, famine, and plague. Note that his power is limited; he is given authority over only a fourth of the earth.
The Takeaway: None of these horses go out on their own. They are called out by the voice of the Lamb. This is meant to be encouraging: as bad as things get, these powers are still under the authority of God. If God allows them to move, He is also the one who can say, “Stop.” We do not need to live in despair when we see oppressive rulers or violence; we can live in hope because our God is the ultimate King.
The Cry for Justice (The Fifth and Sixth Seals)
In the fifth seal, we see the martyrs—those slain for the Word of God—under the altar. They cry out, “How long until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"
This isn’t a petty or capricious cry for “getting even.” It is a cry for divine justice. They are appealing to the character of God—who is “Holy and True”—to settle the accounts of an unjust world. They are told to wait a little longer and are given white robes. Justice will come, but on God’s schedule, not ours.
The sixth seal brings an overwhelming picture of judgment: earthquakes, the sun turning black, and the moon turning red. It is so terrifying that the mighty and the rich hide in caves. They ask a haunting question: “The great day of wrath has come, and who can withstand it?"
The 144,000 and the Great Multitude
Chapter 7 provides the answer to that question. Before the destruction continues, an angel places a seal on the foreheads of the servants of God. In the first century, a seal represented authenticity and ownership.
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What John Hears: He hears the number of the sealed: 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. This is a symbolic number representing the fullness of God’s people.
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What John Sees: When he turns to look, he doesn’t see a small, literal group; he sees a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language.
This is the culmination of the story. These are the ones who have come out of the “Great Tribulation." We often think of that as a specific future event, but in many ways, the Great Tribulation is the experience of living outside of Eden. It is any point in history where the four horses are running wild.
The promise for those who persevere is beautiful:
“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst… the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd… and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
What’s Next?
In chapter 8, the “spiral” of Revelation begins again. We’ll go back to the beginning to look at the same story from a different, perhaps weirder, perspective. But the ending remains the same: Christ is the Shepherd, and He wins.