First Seal False Peace
Revelation 6:1-2
Frist Seal: False Peace!
Revelation 6:1-2, Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
The scenes in chapters 4 and 5 are in heaven. We see in the scene in chapter 4 God seated on His throne. In chapter 5, God holds out His hand, and a little scroll sealed with seven seals. Those seven seals were for the purpose of hiding what was in the scroll. It could not be broken without manifesting that someone had done that.
It could not be read unless it was broken. It couldn’t be broken legally except by the one who had a right to open it.
The little scroll was the title deed to the universe, and the only one who was worthy and able to open it was the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.
Revelation 5:5, But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
The scene then is God. God is about to unleash judgment. Around His throne is lightning and thunder. In the midst of this there is glorious worship of God by the redeemed and raptured church and by the angels. In the midst of all of this glorious worship as God gets ready to act in judgment. All those glorified beings celebrate His coming judgment, for it is right and just. As Christ being exalted and the glory of the saints, God puts out His hand, and in it is the little scroll which symbolizes the title deed to the universe.
It must be taken back from the supplanter Satan and all his demons. The Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah comes forward and takes the scroll. He is worthy, and He is able. He has a right to inherit the universe. He has the power to take it.
Written in this scroll is a description of the judgment by which the Lord will take back the earth. It is sealed seven times, as often ancient documents were, to keep it hidden until the rightful heir opens it. The opening of each seal we will see things portrayed, the drama of the coming judgment as the wrath of God unfolds and He takes back His universe.
Now the first seal is opened. When that first seal is opened a drama plays out. One of the four living creatures from chapters 4 and 5 says as with a voice of thunder. The first seal is the description of the first event, the first feature of the end when the Lord takes back His world.
For many years many Christians have been taught that things in the world are heading inevitably toward final war. We have all been told that we are headed for Armageddon. We perhaps are headed for a nuclear holocaust, maybe that’s what Peter had in mind when he says the elements will melt with fervent heat.
Everything in our world is going to deteriorate and deteriorate until the holocaust breaks loose. The world, we have been told, is going to fall into deeper and deeper chaos, confusion, disaster, and death. We have all heard the gloom and doom message, the message of escalating war, crime, financial collapse, et cetera.
We know as the Scripture says there will be wars, earthquakes, famines, and plagues. We look at the world around us and we see people concerned about the character of society, finance, food, fuel supply, pollution, and environment. We all have been told that we face doom’s day.
We face insurmountable dilemmas that will drive the globe into an ultimately living hell. We are on the slide to destruction. Before the worst comes, and it will come, there are going to be good times. We are headed for worldwide peace, worldwide prosperity, safety, and security. Before things get bad, they are going to get better. Jesus warned about this.
Matthew 24:3, Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these
things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
When will the end come? When will come judgment on the world’s system of evil and darkness? When will come the beginning of a new and eternal age of light and righteousness? They ask with eager and hopeful anticipation. Jesus answers them quite interestingly.
Matthew 24:4, And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
When is it going to happen? Jesus answers them that it starts with a deception. It starts with someone who comes to mislead.
Matthew 24:5, For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. A very deceptive, very misleading proclamation.
There will be many saying that we come to bring world peace. We have come to place the new order.
The world leaders are all lining up and chiming in saying that they represent the deliverance, they represent the global peace, they represent the new day, the new dawn. They promise to deliver the world from its troubles.
They promise peace. They are the architects of the false peace that begins the end time judgment. Doesn’t last very long.
Matthew 24:6-9, And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. Jesus is saying that, there is going to be a deception first. That deception will be followed during the time that we all the tribulation with wars, with famine, with natural disasters, with persecution.
Matthew 24:11, Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
They will still come along as the prophets of old, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. This will always be their message. Peace is just around the corner even far into the final judgment.
Matthew 24:21, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. V 8, the beginning of birth pangs.
The second half is called the great tribulation.
Matthew 24:23-26, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. From the time of the beginning of the tribulation period, the time of the end after the rapture of the church on, it’s going to start with a false peace.
The false peace will crumble into war rapidly, as God wreaks havoc in judgment. But even in the midst of that, the false prophets will still be crying, “Peace. Peace.”
Even with all the signs that proceed the final day of the Lord, which is at the end of the tribulation, when the full fury of God is unleashed. Even with all the signs leading up to that with the wars, the famines, pestilence and plagues, and natural disasters. People are still going to be deceived about peace.
It’s such a desperate cry. Once they get a taste of it at the beginning and then it crumbles, they are going to be desperate to get it back.
1 Thessalonians 5:3, For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
They will all be saying, “Peace and safety,” and the destruction will come, the day of the Lord. Matthew chapter 24 takes us from the beginning of the time we call the tribulation right on through to the return of Christ.
The first phase of it is this deceptive peace by deceptive would- be saviours and peace bringers, deceptive Christs, that crumbles into war. But even as the whole period escalates from war to famine to natural disasters and pestilences,
- Even through the abomination of desolations,
- Even the desecration of the temple,
- Even through the persecutions that come right on down to the brink of the day of the Lord,
- Even when the sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven,
- Even Jesus is ready to come back,
- Even the sky goes black,
Right up until that moment, the people who thought thy orchestrated the first peace will be crying, “Peace is coming back.” There will be people who believe it too! Jeremiah prophesied about a historical day of the Lord.
The historical day of the Lord was a day in which God was going to judge Judah in the past. He was God’s prophet to warn them, and he did it with tears. He told them about coming horror, coming divine judgment. He even said, “You ought to know it, because there are some present signs. There is some things happening that are precursors to the actual day of the Lord. You ought to know and warn people.
Jeremiah 6:1, “O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great destruction.
But in spite of everything that Jeremiah said about the overthrow of Judah and Jerusalem, despite all the precursors, despite the imminent judgment, despite the power right there visible to them, they could see it right on the brink, they kept believing everything would be fine.
They were proclaiming that everything would be fine.
Why?
Jeremiah 6:14, They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
They kept telling them peace was coming.
Jeremiah 8:11, For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
Jeremiah 14:13-14, Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ” 14 And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. False prophets always say peace.
They always talk about the new order, the new world of peace.
When we come to the end time, it’s going to begin with a false peace. False prophets, false christs, and one great Antichrist, one great ruler and leader. We will say a lot more about Antichrist in our study of Revelation.
This one great Antichrist will be over all these other false christs and false prophets and false teachers. They are going to try to orchestrate this peace. It is going to work for a while, and then it’s going to crumble.
The world’s movement toward global peace really does fit this scenario. A deceptive peace is coming, led by false christs and the Antichrist. The first signal is that the scroll has been unrolled and the first seal has been opened false peace.
Matthew 24:6-7, And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. First peace, then war, then famine, then death through natural disaster.
Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, we see the same sequence. ➢ The first horse is a white horse, and he represents, peace. ➢ The second horse is a red horse, and he represents war. He took peace from the earth, and men slaughtered each other.
➢ The third horse is a black horse, and he represents famine. The scales and the balance and the wheat and all of that, the barley talking about famine conditions. ➢ The fourth horse a pale green, and he represents death.
Natural disasters, plagues that are also mentioned earlier. The parallels are exact: peace, war, famine, death. Those are the horses.
Matthew 24:8, All these are the beginning of sorrows.
These are merely the beginning of birth pangs, just the beginning.
Matthew 24:9, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
Who is Jesus talking? Talking about redeemed people.
You may have doubts now. We thought the church was raptured. Yes, we will be there. But as soon as that time begins there is going to be a conversion taking place. People are going to be redeemed during that time. They are going to be persecuted, and they are going to be maligned.
Matthew 24:15-19, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
This certainly relates to Israel, because the Jews are going to be persecuted as well. But it does mention the elect down in verse 24.
Matthew 24:24, For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Those who would be redeemed, who also will be under persecution. So, there will be an onslaught against true believers and against Israel. We have the parallel of the first four in Matthew as the same as the first four seals in Revelation 6.
The fifth seal in Revelation 6 is the martyrs under the altar. The fifth component here in Matthew 24 the tribulation and killing. It’s the same. It’s the killing in Matthew 24 that yields the martyrs in Revelation 6. So, the sequence is the same: peace, war, famine, death, martyrdom.
It is that way in Matthew 24. It is that way in Revelation 6. When the Antichrist shows himself for who he really is, and desecrates the temple, and starts to try to destroy the Jews along with any others who are identified with God.
The five seals take us all the way down to the sixth seal which introduces the Second Coming of Christ. The seventh seal is His coming and His final judgment. So, the parallels are identical.
If we read Revelation 6, the first four are the same. The fifth there, martyrs under the altar. The fifth component here is martyrdom. The sixth seal in Revelation 6, the sky goes black that is exactly what we see in Matthew 24:29.
First there will be peace. We will focus on that.
Daniel 9:24-27, “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
These are weeks of years. Remember our study of Daniel. God had prophesied seventy weeks decreed in Israel. Seventy weeks to bring in everlasting righteousness. It started with the decree of a king named Artaxerxes, and it went on seventy times seven, or 490 years.
483 weeks from that decree to the very day Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem. The first 69 weeks were accomplished. One week is left, one period of seven years. There were the seven weeks, and then the sixty-two weeks, as he notes in verse 25.
After the seven and the sixty-two are complete, the Messiah is cut off, He is killed. The city is destroyed. The sanctuary is destroyed. This happened a little later in 70 A.D. Still a week that hasn’t happened. V 26, the prince is the Antichrist.
He is also called “the little horn” in Daniel 7:8. He is called “the king of fierce countenance” in Daniel 8:23. He is called “the willful king” in Daniel 11:36. The Antichrist comes makes a firm covenant with the many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he puts a stop to the
sacrifice and the grain offering and commits the abomination of desolations. The Antichrist has the leading orchestrator of peace. He is a false christ. We see him in detail in 2 Thessalonians. The Antichrist comes; he leads all the other false christs and false messiahs to bring this world peace.
He makes a covenant with Israel. Certainly, Israel is a key player, and the many certainly focuses on Israel since they are the nation in view here. But it extends beyond Israel. It is a covenant that involves the protection of Israel from all of those who might harm them.
So, it is a kind of major peace pact. Who knows how many nations may be involved in it? He made a peace pact. The period of tribulation is going to begin with global peace. The Antichrist specifically makes a peace treaty with Israel. A covenant to be their protector, their peacemaker, their deliverer, their messiah, their saviour.
In the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrificing and grain offering.
That peace treaty with Israel is going to be so comprehensive and so complete that they are going to be back in their sacrificial system.
- They are going to be back making sacrifices.
- They are going to be back offering grain offerings.
- They are going to have their temple.
In the middle of it, he is going to come in and desolate the place. He is going to try to destroy Israel and conquer the world. By the middle of the week war will already have broken out. We don’t know that the peace is going to last the whole three- and-a-half-years. The wars and the rumours of wars may have already begun.
But for sure it will all break loose then, as Antichrist desecrates the Holy of Holies, sets himself up as God. We will see more about that in future lessons on Revelation, to be worshipped by the whole world. This leads the world into massive warfare that ultimately ends up in Armageddon.
But it all starts with peace. Peace is coming for the world, for Israel. Prosperity, safety, but it is a trap. Followed by war, famine, natural disaster, fierce persecution, the blackening of the sky, the appearing of Christ, devastating judgment, and then His kingdom.
This is the future. The labour pains are going to come starting with peace. As labor pains do, they get harder and harder, and closer together and closer together. So, there is a movement through that seven-year period of escalating trauma, escalating pain, increasing rapidity, until the event happens.
Back to Revelation 6. Heaven’s praise was so glorious in chapter 5, so glorious in chapter 4, and now suddenly silence. The scene shifts from heaven to earth. The Lamb unrolls the first seal, opens the scroll, the title deed to the universe.
As the Lamb breaks the seal, and the contents are revealed that legal document which represents the rightful heir. His power and authority to take back the earth. As Christ opens it, He sees a white horse, but not until one of the four living creatures calls that white horse and rider.
One of the four living creatures, we have already noted in chapter 4, cherubim, same kind described in Ezekiel 1, that are around the throne of God.
V 1, Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” Thunder and lightning are coming out of that throne, remember from Revelation 4:5.
Throne of judgment and his voice is a voice of judgment. He says, “Come.” Immediately a white horse comes and a rider. V 2, And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Horses were associated with war. Horses are representative of power, magnificence, majesty, and conquest. On this white horse and the one who sat on it, a rider. Not necessarily a person. These are representatives of something.
The Lamb broke one of the seven seals to remind you that seven is a number of completion.
That is why there are seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, because that completes the judgment. When all of them are complete, the universe is Christ’s, the kingdom has come, and the millennium is here. All these events also occur in a period called the tribulation, which is a week, the seventieth week of Daniel, a period of seven years.
Jesus divided it into two parts. ➢ The birth pangs, ➢ The great tribulation. Two are separated the abomination of desolations, which is when the Antichrist desecrates the temple in Jerusalem, and heats up the persecution, and tries to destroy Israel, and set himself up as God to be worshipped by the whole world.
As we saw in the first half, generally we have the four seals, which is peace, war, famine, and disaster bringing death. The fifth seal, the abomination, triggers the persecution. Then the sixth and seventh seal bring the end.
Half of this period is designated as 42 months in Revelation 11:2 and Revelation 13:5. Even designated as 1,260 twelve hundred and sixty days in Revelation 11:3 and 12:6.
The time is pretty set. It must be seven years, because we are even given months and days to note what half of it is – multiply it by two and it’s seven years. According to Matthew 24:29, Our Lord returns, immediately after the tribulation of those days. So, at the end of the seven years Christ comes back.
The seal is opened, the voice of the cherub says, “Come”
Who comes? It can’t be Christ.
Why? Because Christ is opening the seal. This rider wears a crown that you win as a prize. Christ wears a diadēma for a crown, a kingly crown over in Revelation 19 when we see Him. It can’t be Christ, because Christ doesn’t come at the beginning, He comes at the end.
It can’t be Christ because He doesn’t carry a bow but a sword. Some say it’s Antichrist. It certainly encompasses Antichrist. But the horses don’t represent individuals, they represent a force. War is a force, famine is a force, and so is death.
Certainly, Antichrist is the main man in the peace, but the horse and rider represent the peace. He is not alone. There are many antichrists, many false christs, many impostors. This horse and rider represent the false peace headed up by Antichrist.
How do we know it represents false peace? He has a bow which is a symbol of a warrior. But if you have a bow, you also need an arrow. He doesn’t have any. The absence of arrows speaks of a bloodless victory worldwide peace brought by this covenant-maker and his cohorts in a bloodless way.
“A crown was given to him.” He is sort of democratically crowned here. It doesn’t seem that he took it, it was just given to him, like he’s been honored by the world and elevated and given prominence. This peace has been made king by the world.
Everything is subservient to peace and since the architect of peace is primarily the Antichrist, everything is subservient to him. Antichrist is rewarded with the crown, which is a reward, stephanos, rather than a diadéma, which is a king’s crown that belongs only ton one who is in the rightful line of the king.
Peace is king and peace is crowned king by the world. “He went out conquering and to conquer.” He is rung up a long series of triumphs in bringing world peace. This is the deception that Jesus talked about when He said many would be misled. This is the golden age. This is the utopia that Antichrist helps to establish with his covenant with Israel that Daniel spoke about peace. Misleading, deceptive, false peace, orchestrated worldwide by many false messiahs, and led by the Antichrist.
Of course, once the peace is established, the Antichrist rises to the top.
2 Thessalonians 2:9, The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
God will send a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false in order that they may be judged. God’s going to delude the world. God is going to let the delusion run. They are all going to fall into false peace, bow down to this great world ruler who epitomizes it. A trap in which they will be caught and killed. The world is headed for war but first it’s headed for peace.