03 the seven seals - waldorf church of...

The Seven SealsRevelation 4:1-8:5

The Creation Chorus (4:1-11)

Now it is time to draw the curtain and reveal the stage set for the drama. From here forward, in rapid sequence, will be presented scenes to assure the

persecuted Christians that the cause of Christ is not a lost cause. Hard and bitter is to be the struggle, but

when the final curtain falls at the end of the play (22:21), complete assurance of victory is

demonstrated.

— Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb 129


• vv. 1-6a. The Throne of God

• A glimpse of glory (Exo 24:9-11)

• After this (1:19)

• The throne of glory (Eze 1:26-28)


At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, there was set in heaven a throne (and one seated upon the throne), which had the appearance of jasper and carnelian;

and around the throne there was a rainbow that had the appearance of emeralds.

— Revelation 4:2-3, translated from the M-Text

The Creation Chorus (4:1-11)Since the rainbow was given as a sign of safety after

the flood, it is now suitably used as a sign of the church’s reconciliation to God. For when the storm

clouds are irradiated by the splendor of the sun, they produce the form of a rainbow. In comparison to this, when the souls of the saints are illumined by the Sun of

righteousness, which is Christ, his deity deigns to be reconciled by their intercession.

— Primasius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 4.2-3, ACCS

The Creation Chorus (4:1-11)• vv. 1-6a. The Throne of God (cont.)

• 24 thrones = 12 patriarchs + 12 apostles (Isa 24:23; Mat 19:28-30)

The Creation Chorus (4:1-11)The twenty-four thrones . . . considered by way of a mystical number, is one throne [“the chair of holy

doctrine”—Apringius], from which comes the church. For the Lord Christ is alone the one who will sit in

judgment. However, the church also will sit and does sit judging the twelve tribes, but she will do this in

Christ in whom is the whole [church]. Therefore, the members will sit and judge, but in one head and

through one head.

— Tyconius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 4.4, ACCS



• Lightning & thunder (Exo 19:16-19)




• Seven torches (1:4)




• Seven torches (1:4)

• A glass ceiling (Eze 1:22)

The Creation Chorus (4:1-11)• vv. 6b-11. The Song of Creation

• Four creatures = all animal life (Eze 1:5-10)

• Six wings = reverence, humility, obedience (Isa 6:2)

• All eyes on God (Eze 1:18)

• Perfect in character, power & being (1:4-8; Isa 6:3)

• Thou alone art worthy (1Ch 29:10-13)


Song No. 6 (Blue): Holy, Holy, Holy

The Redemption Chorus (5:1-14)

• vv. 1-5. A Sealed Scroll

• The right hand (1:16-17)

• Inside & out (Eze 2:9-10)

• Seven seals (Jer 32:9-14; Dan 12:4)


“Sealed,” it says, “by seven seals.” This means that the book was obscured by the plenitude of all mysteries,

since until the passion and resurrection of Christ it had remained sealed. For in no way is anything called a

“testament,” unless those who are about to die make it, and it is sealed until the death of the testator, and after his death, it is opened [Heb 9:16-17]. And so, after the

death of Christ every mystery was revealed.

— Caesarius of Arles, Exposition of the Apocalypse 5.1, Homily 4, ACCS; see Dan 2:28-29; Eph 1:7-10; 3:4-12

The Redemption Chorus (5:1-14)• vv. 1-5. A Sealed Scroll (cont.)

• The heir of David (3:7; Gen 49:8-10; Isa 11:1, 10)

• vv. 6-14. The Song of Redemption

• Slain but standing (Isa 53:7-9; John 1:29; 21:15)

• Seven horns = omnipotence (2Sa 22:2-3)

• Seven eyes = omniscience (1:4; Zec 4:10)

The Redemption Chorus (5:1-14)• vv. 6-14. The Song of Redemption (cont.)

• “And before I knew it, he took the scroll!”

• Spiritual sacrifices (Psa 141:2; 1Pe 2:4-5; Heb 13:15-16)

The Redemption Chorus (5:1-14)Therefore, just as the Jews are commanded to praise God

with all musical instruments, so we are commanded to praise him with all our members . . . . The . . . tongue when it sings [psalle], the ear when it does not listen to wicked songs and accusations against a neighbor, the mind when it does not

devise treachery, but abounds in love . . . . Then man becomes a tuneful lyre, offering up to God a harmonious and spiritual melody. Those instruments were then allowed because of the weakness of the people, to train them to love and harmony.

— John Chrysostom, On Psalm 149, quoted in Everett Ferguson, A Cappella Music in the Public Worship of the

Church 2.3


And do not fill yourself with the drink of grape juice, by which means there is riotous living, but fill yourself by

means of the Spirit, Speaking to yourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and plucking at [psallontes] your heartstrings to the Lord. Giving thanks always, on behalf of all things, in the name of our Lord,

Jesus Christ, to our God and Father, Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

— Ephesians 5:18-20, Kevin Rhodes, A Translation for Expositors


• “And before I knew it, he took the book!”


• A new song (Psa 40:3-8)

The Redemption Chorus (5:1-14)The preaching of the Old Testament joined with the New

reveals the Christian people singing a new song, that is, the proclaiming of their public confession. It is new that the Son

of God became man; it is new that he was given over into death by men; it is new that he rose again on the third day; it

is new that he ascended in the body into heaven; it is new that he gives the forgiveness of sins to men; it is new that

men are sealed with the Holy Spirit; it is new that they receive the priestly service of supplication and await a

kingdom of such immense promises.

— Victorinus of Petovium, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.3, ACCS





• Sevenfold blessing = worthy of all praise (Mat 4:10)





• Sevenfold blessing = worthy of all praise (Mat 4:10)

• (10,000 x 10,000) + (1,000 x 1,000) = 101 million


Song: Revelation Song

Judgment Revealed (6:1-8)

• vv. 1-2. First Seal

• 1st creature = lion (4:7)

• The horses (Zec 1:8-10; 6:1-7)

• White horse = Conquest (John 16:33; 1Jo 5:4-5)

Judgment Revealed (6:1-8)Some think this rider represents Christ, the sword-wielding “Word of God” who rides a white horse in

19:11-16. However, this rider, armed with a bow (like the Parthians, a frequent enemy on the Roman

Empire’s eastern border [whom they never conquered]), probably symbolizes political and

military leaders’ destabilizing quest to expand their realms, leading to war (red horse), [economic scarcity]

(black horse), and epidemic disease (pale horse).

— The ESV Study Bible

Judgment Revealed (6:1-8)• vv. 3-4. Second Seal

• 2nd creature = ox (4:7)

• Red horse = War (Mat 24:3-7)

• vv. 5-6. Third Seal

• 3rd creature = man (4:7)

• Black horse = Scarcity (8-12x inflation; 2Ki 7:1; Mat 24:7-8)

Judgment Revealed (6:1-8)

Some think the command not to harm the oil and wine may . . . be a prediction of events like that of A.D. 92, when the emperor Domitian during a grain shortage

ordered the vineyards cut down to make room for more wheat fields. This caused such a backlash that he rescinded the order. In other words, extreme measures would have to be taken due to the progressive pouring

out of judgment.

— The ESV Study Bible

Judgment Revealed (6:1-8)• vv. 7-8. Fourth Seal

• 4th creature = eagle (4:7)

• Pale green (chlōros) horse = Death, followed by Hades (Hos 13:14; Jer 15:2-3)

• Intensification = 1/4 (ch. 6), 1/3 (ch. 8), all (ch. 16)

Judgment Revealed (6:1-8)This sequence of events has happened before and reflects also

contemporary occurrences. For as Eusebius says . . . at the height of the persecution, when Maximinus was Roman

emperor, both famine and pestilence along with other things fell upon them, so that such an innumerable multitude

perished that they could not be buried. . . . Moreover, the Armenians resisted the Romans, he says, so that many were killed with the sword and the bodies of the dead were eaten

by dogs. . . . We know that even in our own times similar things have happened.

— Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse 6.8, ACCS

A Just Cause (6:9-17)

• vv. 9-11. Fifth Seal

• The altar (Exo 29:11-12)

• Their allegiance (1:9)

• Their Avenger (Psa 79:5, 10)

A Just Cause (6:9-17)They do not pray for these things out of hatred of their enemies, for whom they intercede in this world [Mat

5:43-44]. Rather, they pray out of love of equity, in which as those placed near to the Judge himself and in

agreement with him they pray that the day of judgment, in which the kingdom of sin is destroyed and the

resurrection of their dead bodies may come. For, also we in the present time, when we are commanded to pray for our enemies, nevertheless say when we pray to the Lord,

“May your kingdom come” [Mat 6:10]!

— Bede, Explanation of the Apocalypse 6.10, ACCS

A Just Cause (6:9-17)• vv. 12-17. Sixth Seal

A Just Cause (6:9-17)As a representative case of natural calamity, the

earthquake was used. They were frequent in Asia Minor, and the people would understand it. The combination of

earthquake and volcanic eruption had destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii about A.D. 79. Sardis and

Philadelphia had been almost completely destroyed by earthquake at one time. Such natural calamity pictured

in a very graphic way the visitation of divine wrath, God’s judgment on those who were oppressing his people.

— Summers 143; see Hag 2:6-7

A Just Cause (6:9-17)• vv. 12-17. Sixth Seal

• Sun, moon & stars (Isa 13:9-10; Mark 13:24-25)

• Sky & mountains (Isa 34:1-5)

• Great & small (Isa 24:21; 34:12)

• A day of wrath (Hos 10:8; Luke 23:30; John 3:36)

The Church Militant (7:1-8)

• vv. 1-3. Providential Protection (Num 1:2-3)

• Four angels & corners (Zec 6:5-7; Mat 24:31)

• Set apart, not taken away (Exo 8:22-23; 9:4-6)

• Sealed by God (Eze 9:4-6)

The Church Militant (7:1-8)“Seal” was the commonest baptismal designation in the

second century. Some texts show the seal clearly as a mark of ownership and protection. For Christian usage

in relation to baptism there are two lines of thought — an eschatological and a juristic. There is a close relation of

seal and name in the second and third centuries [14:1] so that “seal” and “baptismal formula” are close together.

Indeed “seal” is no separate baptismal rite but an interpretation of the baptismal bath.

— Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church 536; see 2Co 1:21-22; Eph 1:13-14; Mat 28:18-20; Jam 2:7

The Church Militant (7:1-8)• vv. 4-8. Spiritual Protection (Gen 35:22-26)

• Not biological: Dan omitted, Manasseh included (1Ki 12:29; Gen 48:13-20); Judah listed before Reuben (Gen 49:3-4)

• Not political: Dan omitted, Levi included (Num 18:20); Joseph replaces Ephraim (Hos 5:3)

• Not social: concubines’ sons promoted over wives’

The Church Militant (7:1-8)By this finite number is signified the innumerable multitude of the whole church, which is begotten from the patriarchs either by way of the offspring of flesh or by the imitation of faith. For it says, “If you are of Christ, you are the seed of Abraham” [Gal

3:29]. And it pertains to the increase of perfection that this twelve is multiplied by twelve and is completed by the sum of a

thousand, which is the cube of the number ten, signifying the immoveable life of the church. . . . And, finally, twelve apostles

were elected that they might preach the same faith to the world, signifying by way of the number the mystery of their work.

— Bede, Explanation of the Apocalypse 7.4, ACCS; see Gal 6:14-16; Rom 2:28-29; Php 3:3

The Church Triumphant (7:9-17)As in 5:4-5, where John first heard an OT title (the Lion of Judah) and then saw its NT fulfillment (the Lamb slain), so here John hears (7:4) the names of the sealed sons of

Israel and then sees the NT fulfillment: a countless multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples

and languages (cf. 5:9), whom God has rescued from wrath through the blood of the Lamb (7:14). . . . Those

who do not hold to a pretribulation rapture usually see vv. 1-8 and vv. 9-17 as the same group, with their

suffering in vv. 1-8 turned to joy and reward in vv. 9-17.

— The ESV Study Bible; see Summers 150

The Church Triumphant (7:9-17)

• vv. 9-12. A Universal People

• Palm branches (Lev 23:40-43; John 12:12-16)

• Festal gathering (Heb 12:18-24, 28-29)

• Sevenfold blessing (5:12)

The Church Triumphant (7:9-17)• vv. 13-17. A Purified People

• Tried & true (22:14-15; 1Jo 3:1-3)

• Cleansed by blood (Gen 49:11; Psa 51:7-12)

The Church Triumphant (7:9-17)

To be sure, one might think that robes dipped in blood would be red, not white. And so, how is it that they have become white? Because, according to the opinion of all-wise Paul

[Rom 6:3], baptism is completed in the death of the Lord and wipes clean from every filth of sin, so that those baptized in

him are made white and clean. However, the reception of the life-giving blood of Christ also gives the same grace [in

communion, John 6:53], for the Lord said concerning his own blood that it was poured out “for many” and “for the

sake of many” and “for the forgiveness of sins” [Mat 26:28].

— Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 7.9-17, ACCS


• Tried & true (Acts 24:22; 1Jo 3:1-3)


• Perfected praise = all glory, all the time (vv. 12, 15)


• Tried & true (Acts 24:22; 1Jo 3:1-3)


• Perfected praise = all glory, all the time (vv. 12, 15)

• Lamb & Shepherd (Eze 37:24; John 10:14-16)

Judgment from Heaven (8:1-5)

• vv. 1-5. Seventh Seal

• The breath before the plunge (Zec 2:10-13)

• Prayers offered (5:8; Lev 16:12)

• Prayers answered (Psa 18:6-15)

The Seven SealsSeal Symbol SignficanceFirst White horse Conquest

Second Red horse WarThird Black horse Scarcity

Fourth Pale horse DeathFifth Saints slain Prayers offeredSixth Wrath waits Prayers answeredSeven Angels assemble Judgment prepared

Works Cited• Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Ed. Thomas C. Oden. InterVarsity, 2003.

Accordance.

• The Comprehensive Bible Cross References. Ed. T. E. Clontz & J. Clontz. Cornerstone, 2011. Accordance.

• The ESV Study Bible. Ed. Lane T. Dennis & Wayne Grudem. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. Accordance.

• Ferguson, Everett. A Capella Music in the Public Worship of the Church. 4th Ed. Abilene: Desert Willow, 2013. iBooks.

• ---. Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009. Kindle.

• Summers, Ray. Worthy is the Lamb: An Interpretation of Revelation. Nashville: Broadman, 1951. Print.

• A Translation for Expositors. Trans. Kevin W. Rhodes. Accordance.

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