WHERE YOU GONNA RUN TO?
Opening Prayer
I will “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, bow down before him, his glory proclaim…” (John S. B. Monsell, 1811–1875).
Read Revelation 6
The Seals
6 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
Footnotes:
a Revelation 6:6 Or about 1 kilogram
b Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
c Revelation 6:6 Or about 3 kilograms
d Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
e Revelation 6:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 12:10; 19:10.
f Revelation 6:16 See Hosea 10:8.
g Revelation 6:17 Some manuscripts his
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Does anything in this chapter give you a sense of urgency in telling others about Jesus?“O Sinner Man—where you gonna run to?” asks the old spiritual song. It’s hard to read this chapter about the wrath of God and sinners running to hide (15) and escape judgment. The sinner has rejected God for so long there is frighteningly no hope.
The wrath of the Lamb comes in answer to the martyrs’ pleas (10) and is God’s judgment on those who have persecuted his people. War (4), famine (6) and death (8) are part of God’s vengeance, symbolized in the colors of the horses—the seeming triumph of evil (white, 2) but the bow has no arrow so it’s a false victory; slaughter (red, 4), starvation (black, 5) and death (ghostly green, 8). But the martyrs, in contrast, are promised a robe and a good rest, waiting for the Day of Wrath. Jesus promised it would come (Luke 21:25,26), as had the Old Testament prophets. Six disasters occur (12–14), and everyone from the greatest to the least tries to hide from God (15).
Another side of Jesus is unveiled—the Lamb as an avenging warrior of God’s justice. Our hope is still strong, however—because there is still time to repent. God is waiting, in spite of the pleas of the martyrs, to allow time for everyone to turn to him.
Apply
Do you know anyone who has not trusted in Jesus? How can you share the hope of the Gospel with them today?
Closing prayer
My Jesus, have mercy on my friends who do not know You. Give me the words to say to them and draw them to Your heart.
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