D. The Second Seal (6:3-4)
D. THE SECOND SEAL (6:3-4)
3. John does not explain who he means by ‘he’ but clearly it is the Lamb (which NIV inserts; it is not in the Greek). In verse 1 he opened ’one of the seals’ but this time it is definitely named the second (and so on throughout the series). The second living one summoned the second horseman with the same invitation that the first had given earlier.
4. There came out (from where?) a fiery red horse. To its rider was given power to take peace from the earth. That it was given springs from the divine sovereignty. God uses history for history’s judgment and in this way works out his purpose. As distinct from the wars of conquest of the first rider this one is concerned with civil war. Barclay says that between 67 and 37 BC 100,000 men perished in rebellions in Palestine, while the revolt in Britain in AD 61, associated with Boadicea, saw the deaths of 150,000. Such happenings form a sombre background to Revelation. While this rider was given a large sword he is not said to kill anyone. Men kill one another. He takes peace away and men proceed to do all the damage. The word rendered slay is not the usual one; it has a meaning like ‘slaughter’ (NEB) or ’butcher’ (Berkeley).