Introducing the Seals
Revelation 6:1-2
Audio Version!
Hello, Jackson Painter here. Welcome to this episode of In Plain Sight Revelation edition. I am glad you’ve joined me.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the two years following seminary—Fall 1988 to Summer 1990—I lived in Newark, Delaware, where I served as Baptist Campus Minister at the University of Delaware and also as Youth and Music director at a small Baptist church (Lynn and I married in the middle, July 1989).
Of my roles, youth ministry was the area I felt most unqualified for.
Yet, by God’s grace, that youth group grew while I was there and many, maybe most, are still following the Lord these many years later—I’d like to think that the Lord used me in part to that end.
The Smell Test
One of the things I wanted that small group of youth to learn was how to read and study the Bible, so we started a Bible study—on Revelation.
That was probably not the best place to start!
But I thought it would interest them.
And it did.
We had a great time every week reading, then discussing passage after passage. I’ve done that numerous times since with adults, but none any more fun than that group of mostly junior-high adolescents.
That study was the place many ideas were planted in my mind about Revelation that are still working themselves out in this Substack.
One of the things I stressed to them was to read what Revelation actually says, not to depend on what everyone says about Revelation.
That was the smell test I tried to implant into their developing brains.
To that end, when we got to the white horse in Revelation chapter six, the obvious answer to the identity of the rider was Jesus. You may be surprised, but on its face no other identification made sense, especially in light of the explicit reference in Revelation 19.
That was only one of many differences we came to from the premillenial-dispensational view (and probably raised some eye-brows of the parents) which holds that the white horse and rider represent the Antichrist (exactly the opposite of Jesus!!).
The Antichrist view is one very commonly held today—though only first proposed in the 1800s. It is so common in fact that for years I waffled on that very issue, though no more.
(continued)
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Sticking with the text
With this Substack, I am making the conscious effort to read and understand Revelation in line with what makes sense of the text we have, and then only going outside to the Old and New Testament (or further afield) if needed.
At the same time, many other scholars try to argue that John composed Revelation in response to his historical circumstances: the seals are to be collated with first century history and their form compared to other Jewish apocalyptic literature.
Though the historical frame within which John wrote is interesting, and somewhat pertinent for interpreting the oracles to the seven churches, if Revelation 1:10 through chapter 22 is actually an account of John’s visions on Patmos, not visions constructed from a million bits and pieces of scripture and the late first century historical events as many scholars argue, then the minutia of first century historical, social and religious comparisons to Revelation are largely marginal for interpretation.
I am also not saying that Revelation does not have some similarities with other Jewish literature of the time. The comparisons are certainly interesting, but I am not sure how pertinent.
What John actually wrote and the clues within Revelation are most important.
We only go outside of Revelation when necessary.
John (or Jesus to John, or angels to John), explicitly states that there is symbolism in the visions, but what frame to interpret that symbolism is the issue.
And every interpreter to one degree or another recognizes symbolism in Revelation; the question is how to interpret it.
So now I turn in earnest to that task as we encounter the most difficult to understand passages in Revelation, beginning with the seals.
I have set out some of my method in the previous post, Putting Vision, Metaphor, and Literal together, and now it’s time to apply the method to one of the most infamous texts in the entire Bible: The Four Horses of the Apocalypse and the other of the seven seals.
Because there is such a variety of views (controversies!) about the meaning of the seals, for each of them I will at least give some alternative views before setting out my own.
I am personally (and prayerfully) aiming for consistency as the text unfolds rather than trying to “decode” Revelation from other sources.
Patterns in the Seals
I will begin interpreting the seals by simply looking at some basic patterns in John’s recital of the seven seals, then I’ll hit the first seal head on (I think that’s a metaphor) in the next.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures speaking like a sound of thunder, “Come.” And I saw, and behold, a white horse … Revelation 6:1-2a
First, I am not going to talk about the white horse here.
Instead, I am going to make some observations about the vision.
All of chapter six and seven is that mixture I spoke of in the last post: vision alone, visionary metaphors (that point to a real/literal referents of some sort), and a few references to the literal, but seen in visionary form (human groups, such as saints, kings, etc).
And John as writer literally remembered using “I saw” and “I heard.”
Most of the content is the vision that contains visionary metaphors.
That is exactly what we see in this verse, and a pattern for what follows.
And I saw … and I heard … John has already used these phrases many times to indicate his vivid visionary experience—he employed one or the other a remarkable 72 times in Revelation.
when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals … In this first of the seven seals (visionary metaphor), John gives the specific person who opens it—the Lamb (visionary metaphor for Jesus)—and a general number, “one of.” In the other six seals (6:3, 5, 7, 9, 12, and 8:1), the subject is “he” referring to the Lamb, and an ordinal number: second seal, third seal, etc. This pattern is the only exact one for all seven seals.
one of the four living creatures … Likewise, in the first four seals a general “One of” is used for the first living creature, but ordinals (second, third, fourth) for the other three. The fact that the final three are specified means we can identify each one with the listing of the four in chapter four: lion-faced, ox-faced, human-faced, and eagle. Those correspondences possibly have metaphorical significance for the respective seal.
speaking like a sound of thunder This phrase is unique for the seals and simply a descriptive element of the vision—notice the term “like.”
Not thunder, but like thunder.
Other seals have different and unique descriptive elements.
Come. This command, in this case from the lion-faced creature, was given for each of the first four seals. Yet Come! is ambiguous (and the first of many exegetical issues to address.)
The creature could be commanding John to come—the KJV has “Come and see,” which may be taken from John 1:46, but is found in many later manuscripts, and even one early manuscript. No matter, this command makes total sense if John is the object.
On the other hand, the command to come could be directed to the white horse (and ditto for the other horses)!
There is no way to tell, but the addition of “and see” very early in the textual history, probably to clarify, shows that many early interpreters thought the command was for John, not the horses—and I agree.
And I saw, and behold, a white horse … John’s response, “and I saw” probably adds weight to the idea that the command was for John, but the ambiguity still is there. A white horse does appear and it is possible from the command.
I think the horse is simply there as a result of opening the seal, not from the command “come!” John is simply being commanded to look and see, and he followed the command (as we should!).
So there are patterns in John’s recital of the seals, but not consistent ones.
Only one base element of this verse repeated for all seven seals: “when he opened the xth seal …”
The remaining elements are variable, though certain elements are repeated often.
And of course the main visionary element for each seal is unique and that is the primary content that is full of visionary metaphors.
(cont.)
In the posts to come, I will take up each seal alone with its unique content. I expect there to be some surprises ahead!
An appeal
Though I have gotten occasional comments and questions over the last two years (the IPS anniversary is in a few days!), it’s not nearly what I would hope or like. Now that I am going to being throwing out some interesting, perhaps even controversial, takes on Revelation, I’d love to engage in some meaningful dialogue in the comments section. I personally benefit from these because I have to clarify and even defend my ideas—or reassess my views. I am happy to do so for the sake of truth. So bring it on, no matter who you are!
Some Books
I don’t very often refer to books about Revelation, but I thought that listing a few that I’ve personally used (whether I agree with them or not) might be useful to anyone interested in reading on Revelation. This is a short annotated list; there are many out there including several massive commentaries (I only list one of those here—Aune).
David Aune, Revelation, 3 vols. Word Biblical Commentary. Thomas Nelson, 1997-8. This is my go-to commentary for the first century historical approach with lots of details, parallels, and composition theory that essentially argues that John created the visions. There are more recent encyclopedic ones like this by Gregory Beale and Craig Koester.
David DeSilva. Seeing things John’s Way. Westminster/John Knox, 2009. Not a commentary per se, but it explores how John uses ancient rhetoric to present his visions to the first century churches in their Rome dominate context.
Ben Witherington, Revelation, New Cambridge Bible Commentary, Cambridge University Press, 2003. Same basic rhetorical approach as DeSilva, but as a commentary.
N. T. Wright, Revelation for Everyone. SPCK, 2011. Easy to read, but eye-opening! Wright uses a symbolic approach to Revelation, which sees a more cosmic-universal significance than just the Roman environment. His interpretation of the winepress at the end of Revelation 14 changed the way I read blood in Revelation.
Craig Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things, 2nd ed. Eerdmans, 2018. Koester’s book is not quite a commentary, but close. It uses a symbolic approach that sees John addressing his first century audience. He also has a major commentary in the Anchor Bible series.
Sigve Tonstad, Revelation, Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament, Baker Academic, 2019. Like Wright, this commentary uses a symbolic approach but focuses on the literary structure and rhetorical flow. He has some interesting readings.
Clifford Winters, Argument is War: relevance-theoretic comprehension of the
conceptual metaphor of war in the apocalypse. Brill, 2020. This very academic book shows how metaphor is used in Revelation and has helped me to develop some of my ideas, especially how images are introduced then extended throughout the visions to create certain complexes of meaning.
William Weinrich, ed. Revelation. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. IVP, 2005. Weinrich compiles commentary on Revelation from the first five centuries. Very enlightening on how early interpreters viewed Revelation!
Steve Gregg, Revelation: Four Views. Revised and updated. Thomas Nelson, 2013. A fascinating commentary in which the author presents the parallel views of historicists, preterists, futurists, and idealists.
Other authors to consider: Gregory Beale, Richard Baukham, Thomas Schreiner, Gerald Stevens.
I encourage you to pick up one or more of these and see what interpretations are different from mine. I will definitely argue my views, but realize there are many out there!
I'd like to recommend an addition to your list of books on Revelation—Discipleship on the Edge: an Expository Journey Through the Book of Revelation, by Darrell Johnson.