Sunday School Notes: Revelation 6:3-4

³ And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” ⁴ And another horse came out, fiery red, and to the one sitting upon it was given to him to take peace from the earth, even so that [people] will slaughter one another. And a great sword was given to him.

We briefly reviewed the first seal, and then began our discussion of the second. The way John describes the opening of the second seal has parallels to the opening of the first seal, but some details are omitted that I think we can add. For a start, the Lamb is clearly the one opening the seals. This seems an obvious point, but we mustn’t forget the significance of that: it is the Lamb who executes the contents of the seal. The things that happen come about at his initiation, in accordance with the will and decree of the Lord. These things are as the Lord intends them to be. Also, there’s no mention of a voice like thunder with the second creature. But I think we can assume the command to come takes its authority from the same place–the throne upon which the Lord sits. We spent some time talking about this, and how the fact that God is in sovereign control of the evil in the world should give us comfort. Remember, God is not holding a gun to sinful people telling them to sin against their will. They sin because that is the inclination of their hearts. The Lord commissions their sinful acts but He himself is not guilty of sin. Unlike sinful men, the Lord is without sin, and His intentions are always holy, righteous, just, and always in accordance with what is best for His people. We might want to question God’s motives and His purity, but since we have no concept of what it is like to be holy, pure, and righteous, we are in no place to judge the Lord. We don’t know what is best, or what is truly good. He does. So the believer needs to rest in that, even though it seems as if evil surrounds us, and all is lost.

John describes the horse as “fiery red.” Some translations may simply say “red.” I prefer “fiery red” because the Greek adjective used here, purros, has its root in the word for fire, pur. Why red? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that red is associated with bloodshed and slaughter. It’s also the color we ascribe to anger, lust, and other sins. However, red doesn’t have this sense in other cultures (apparently, in China it signifies goodness). So it may simply be derived from the horse colors in Zechariah 6:1-8, which seems to be one of the Old Testament passages in the background of Revelation 6.

The rider is given the commission to remove peace from the earth. We noted the fact that there are two passive verbs used here, the first with the commission (“it was given to him to take peace…”), and the second to do with the sword by which the rider would, presumably, execute that commission (“a great sword was given…”). These are known as “divine passives” and they are a way of saying God did something without actually using God’s name. John is implying that the Lord gave the rider the commission and the sword. Again, it’s important we have a solid, Biblical understanding of God’s sovereignty, and what that means for us.

Jesus already forewarned his disciples (and us) about the removal of peace in Matthew 10:34-39. In this passage, Jesus is sending out his twelve disciples, and he is exhorting them not to fear persecution. He reminds them that he hasn’t come to bring peace but “a sword” (the same Greek word, machaira, as in Revelation 6:4) that will set family members against one another. Certainly in the context of Matthew, that sword could well refer to the gospel, the Word of God. But there is a literal sword implied, since the gospel, and the steadfast allegiance of God’s people to Christ as a result of gospel convictions, has resulted in the persecution of believers, often at the edge of a sword.

That same word for sword is used by Paul in Romans 13:4 in reference to the life-and-death power given by the Lord to all ruling authorities. Once more we noted that it is God who gives the authorities their power, and they are responsible for using it for good. To the extent that they pursue their own agenda and persecute God’s people, those authorities will be judged by the Lord.

Along with the Zechariah 6 backdrop, I think we see a multifaceted purpose to the “sword” here. One is to bring the judgment to bear upon unbelievers in the form of warfare and the setting of people against one another. There is also the very real likelihood that the church will suffer persecution as a result of the gospel, and the Lord commissions the sword to bring purity to the church, and to demonstrate the full depravity of men. In this, the Lord’s justice in judging the sinful acts of wicked men is evident. And this persecution is not simply on the level of one man against another (though that is certainly stated), but as judicial acts of government, whereby Christians are threatened if they don’t comply with the godless demands of evil rulers.

The fact that we have seen such things happening throughout the world since Christ’s resurrection, and there seems to be no abating in the amount of conflict in the world, demonstrates that this is not something we’re waiting to see. The rider on the red horse has been out doing his work for the past two thousand years, and will continue to bring strife and bloodshed until the Lord returns. But the church needs to take comfort from the fact that this rider is operating under the Lord’s command. His deeds are evil, but the one who commissioned him is pure and holy. If our focus is truly on the Lord, and we remember that our home is not here, and we are not building a kingdom on earth, then we have nothing to fear.

Next week: The Third Seal and the Third Horseman