2 And I saw: and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon it having a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer.
And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and one sitting on it, [called] Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but himself;
And I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting like [the] Son of man, having upon his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled, strong horses. And I spoke and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. That in which are the black horses goeth forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth towards the south country; and the strong go forth, and seek to go that they may walk to and fro through the earth. And he said, Go, walk to and fro through the earth. And they walked to and fro through the earth. And he cried unto me, and spoke unto me, saying, See, these that go forth towards the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
I saw by night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the low valley; and behind him were red, bay, and white horses.
For walking in flesh, we do not war according to flesh. For the arms of our warfare [are] not fleshly, but powerful according to God to [the] overthrow of strongholds; overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ;
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings: and they [that are] with him called, and chosen, and faithful.
And I saw as a glass sea, mingled with fire, and those that had gained the victory over the beast, and over its image, and over the number of its name, standing upon the glass sea, having harps of God.
And the nations have been full of wrath, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to give the recompense to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who fear thy name, small and great; and to destroy those that destroy the earth.
And the seventh angel sounded [his] trumpet: and there were great voices in the heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ is come, and he shall reign to the ages of ages.
He that overcomes, to him will I give to sit with me in my throne; as *I* also have overcome, and have sat down with my Father in his throne.
Gird thy sword upon [thy] thigh, O mighty one, [in] thy majesty and thy splendour; And [in] thy splendour ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness: and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp -- peoples fall under thee -- in the heart of the king's enemies.
Where, O death, [is] thy sting? where, O death, thy victory? Now the sting of death [is] sin, and the power of sin the law; but thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ.
For he must reign until he put all enemies under his feet.
For I will not dare to speak anything of the things which Christ has not wrought by me, for [the] obedience of [the] nations, by word and deed, in [the] power of signs and wonders, in [the] power of [the] Spirit of God; so that I, from Jerusalem, and in a circuit round to Illyricum, have fully preached the glad tidings of the Christ;
And Jesus coming up spoke to them, saying, All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth.
yea, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set [them] upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is [the] Branch; and he shall grow up from his own place, and he shall build the temple of Jehovah: even he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Jehovah shall send the sceptre of thy might out of Zion: rule in the midst of thine enemies.
{A Psalm.} Sing ye unto Jehovah a new song: for he hath done wondrous things; his right hand and his holy arm hath wrought salvation for him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 6
Commentary on Revelation 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
The book of the divine counsels being thus lodged in the hand of Christ, he loses no time, but immediately enters upon the work of opening the seals and publishing the contents; but this is done in such a manner as still leaves the predictions very abstruse and difficult to be understood. Hitherto the waters of the sanctuary have been as those in Ezekiel's vision, only to the ankles, or to the knees, or to the loins at least; but here they begin to be a river that cannot be passed over. The visions which John saw, the epistles to the churches, the songs of praise, in the two foregoing chapters, had some things dark and hard to be understood; and yet they were rather milk for babes than meat for strong men; but now we are to launch into the deep, and our business is not so much to fathom it as to let down our net to take a draught. We shall only hint at what seems most obvious. The prophecies of this book are divided into seven seals opened, seven trumpets sounding, and seven vials poured out. It is supposed that the opening of the seven seals discloses those providences that concerned the church in the first three centuries, from the ascension of our Lord and Saviour to the reign of Constantine; this was represented in a book rolled up, and sealed in several places, so that, when one seal was opened, you might read so far of it, and so on, till the whole was unfolded. Yet we are not here told what was written in the book, but what John saw in figures enigmatical and hieroglyphic; and it is not for us to pretend to know "the times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power.'
In this chapter six of the seven seals are opened, and the visions attending them are related;
Rev 6:1-2
Here,
Rev 6:3-8
The next three seals give us a sad prospect of great and desolating judgments with which God punishes those who either refuse or abuse the everlasting gospel. Though some understand them of the persecutions that befel the church of Christ, and others of the destruction of the Jews, they rather seem more generally to represent God's terrible judgments, by which he avenges the quarrel of his covenant upon those who make light of it.
Rev 6:9-17
In the remaining part of this chapter we have the opening of the fifth and the sixth seals.