In Revelation chapter 10 we read of a mighty angel coming to earth and roaring as a lion with a little book opened in his hand. This is Jesus Christ who opened the book in Revelation 6 after being deemed the only man worthy to take it from the right hand of God on the throne.
Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. Other markers denote the angel to be Christ, such as the rainbow around His head (the covenant token), being clothed with a cloud, His face as the sun and feet like brass. When we read of Christ in Revelation 5, we see Him referred to as a lamb. This signification is marked by the stress of the blood that was required to make Him a Kinsman Redeemer worthy to take the book for mankind's sake. When you read of a Lamb you think of sacrifice. So the lamb was His epithet when regarding blood offered for humanity.
But the book which the Lamb took was a book of judgment due to mankind's sin. And judgment calls for, not a Lamb, but the Lion of Judah. The emblem of the lion marks the dominion of the Lord, and that in turn speaks of judgment. We find that the book was to be unsealed at the time of it's taking in Revelation 5. This tells us that judgment is near to that time.
Prior to this taking of the book, John wept. He wept for the reason that no man was deemed worthy to take the book. The retrieval of the book has something to do with bringing man back to God, after the alienation humanity experienced due to the separation of God from man since Adam's transgression. God's mysteries could not be revealed to man.
None but Jesus, God become a man, was able to take that book. No other religious leader, so-called saint of God nor prophet could take it.
By thorough comparison of phrases in Revelation we find that the book is indeed the Revelation of Jesus Christ, or the Testimony of Jesus Christ. John wrote about this "book", in large part. John's book of Revelation was actually about another "Book" - the "Book" of Revelation which God held in His right hand. That is where John took the title for his letter from. It is a reference to the little book that was sealed with seven seals, and revealed to John by Jesus Christ. John relates to us how it was opened and revealed to him in Chapter 6 and onward.
God gave this revelation to Jesus Christ, as per Revelation 1:1, which was fulfilled in Revelation 5 symbolically. The testimony of Jesus concerns the manner Jesus died for man as Lamb of God and was made worthy to receive the revelation due to that act.
The book contains all the events necessary to lead up to the conquest of the world by Christ. Since the lamb went to the right hand of God on man's behalf after He rose from the dead according to John 20, we see that the events of Rev. 5 occurred on the third day after His death. That was when he ascended to the right hand and presented His blood as did the High Priest enter the tabernacle, careful to be untouched by another human, in order to offer the blood in the holiest (Lev. 16:17). This seems to tell us that the events of the seals in Revelation 6 began taking place since that time! What other reason would there be to unseal the book of judgments at that time?
In other words, the white horseman traveled forth in the few years following the days of the apostles. This was the first event to occur from John's day up until the time when God would eventually conquer the world through Christ.
Notice the colours of the horses, as they seem to reveal a progressive evil.
The objects the riders held also denotes a progressive manifesting evil.
Temptation is like this! It looks so white and pure. It conquers a person
with it's disguise. Then it brings self-destruction. Life is starved in
the person and finally death results.
In the context of this passage, James tells us to not mistaken what is good and evil. Only that which is from above is good. We can avoid sin and death by seeing that a thing which is not from above is not good, no matter how good it looks. It will end in death and hell.
At first, the horse was white. The rider had a crown, but it was a false Christ. The bow reveals his destructive nature in a minor degree. Then the true colours begin manifesting. Red is seen, denoting bloodshed, and the weapon in the rider's hand is more destructive, and is a sword. The next "weapon", as it is indeed a weapon against mankind, is the balances. The force of starvation.
Finally, no instrument is needed since the rider, himself, is death personified.
A breath is indicative of one's influence or being or nature in the act of impressing itself upon others. God breathed life into Adam, and Adam was made in God's likeness and lived.
These breaths breathe DEATH into man instead.
Matt 24:13 says that endurance to the "end" rewards one salvation. Paul added to that and said that we must endure temptation and tribulation.
The seventh trumpet brought the end of the mystery, or the end ot he revelation of the book. And we can also deduce the thought of the end as referred to by Jesus in Matthew as being party with these references in revelation. We can clearly see that Matthew 24 relates the opening of the Seals as found in the book of Revelation. The four horsemen are referred to by the Lord in precisely the same order we find them in Rev. 6. False Christs, wars and rumours of wars, famine and pestilences, and finally delivering saints up to be killed. The sixth seal of the sun and moon changing nature are found in Matthew 24 also.
At the seventh trumpet's reference in revelation we read of the Kingdoms of the world becoming the Kingdoms of Christ. The saints are then rewarded. And this is the Salvation Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:13.
It must be.
In Revelation 12 we read of the summary of Heaven and earth's history. And an "end" comes as Satan is cast down. An angel cries out, "Now is come salvation... for the accuser of our brethren is cast down..." Salvation! This also connects with Matthew 24's note of salvation.
The four seals listed in Rev. 6 are in the identical order as found in Matthew 24. Between the obvious note of the sixth seal in Matthew 24:29 and the reference to the fourth seal in Matthew 24:9-12 is the reference to the following:
Could this mean that the death of the saints under the altar is a "spiritual" death and not literal, since we are told to endure and wait? The dead are told to wait in Revelation 6. But the saints are encouraged to endure to the end in Matthew 24. NO OTHER REFERENCE TO WAITING IS FOUND BETWEEN THE FOURTH AND SIXTH SEALS IN MATTHEW 24. And, in Matthew 24, somewhere between the 4th and 6th seal is the fifth seal where saints are told to wait.