THE contents of the sealed book appear at its opening
in the form of successive visions, passing before John's
eyes as prophetic pictures of things to come, representations
acted. The seven seals, opened one after the other
by the Lamb, are divided, as is often the case with this
mystic number, into four and three. It has been almost
universally and very properly remarked, that these four
first seals deal with visible events passing upon the earth ;
the three last relate to the region of the invisible world,
pointing to the worship of sainted spirits, the judgment of
sinners, and the service of angels in heaven.
The rider upon the white horse (foreshadowing chap,
xiv. 14 ; xix. 11), we, with many other commentators, hold
to be Christ, who very significantly himself appears as the
first seal. The riders generally, and their horses, seem
to be modelled upon those in Zech. L, vi., yet not to have
any special resemblance of meaning. The conqueror on the
white horse stands out in beautiful contrast to the second,
third, and fourth, e.g., war, famine, and pestilence, which not
only succeed but spring from one another. Further, He
who is their leader and ruler in all, in chap, v., has already
been named the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and accordingly
he is appropriately ushered in by the thunder-tones
of the first cherub," the first beast like a lion." He is
already crowned with the crown of triumph of his former
overcoming, and yet he slowly and progressively carries
out this victory. This is the plan upon which the whole
Apocalypse is constructed. This, its first part, which we
are now considering, does not foretell certain isolated and
definite historical events ; rather it delineates a course of
history during which such general events will be frequently
repeated. The seals, according to Von Meyer, "prefigure
the general tenor of events during the centuries of the
Christian era ; the good and evil that awaits Christendom,
and has to be gradually evolved, in order that they who
wait for the glorious close of the dispensation, may not
expect it too soon, and be so disappointed, and make
shipwreck of their faith." And since Christ precedes,
nay, as conquering warrior is himself included in the
number of the seals, and especially belongs to the first
four, we are not justified, by the connexion in which this
image appears, in explaining it as the spiritual triumph
of the word of truth (Ps. xlv. 4-6), or even more especially
the first success of the apostolic preaching. Kather
we find it prefigured and certified that all the succeeding
plagues all war, all human conquests and triumphs whatsoever
(as for example, those of Trajan in the first instance,
but also all others to come to pass throughout the course
of history) only subserve His triumphs who is the one
true warrior and conqueror, in and through all.
Now, then, we shall be able, without further exposition
of the words, simple in themselves, to understand the
meaning of the fourfold call of the four living creatures.
In our Bibles, we have in all four passages the very same
words used," Come and see" But there are various
readings of the original, and the latest criticism gives
simply the word come in all the verses alike, whereas
other authorities would read it in this abbreviated form
only with regard to the second seal, while others, again,
would do so in connexion with the three last seals. But,
at all events, the meaning remains much the same. We
hold that the first call is decidedly Come and see, and the
last only repetitions, perhaps abbreviated repetitions of
the complete sentence. In chap. iv. 1, the first voice had
already called, in the name of all the rest, Come ; and
since now we have another, a separate summons, it can
only imply a coming nearer, in order more plainly and
distinctly to see the images now about to appear : an
almost necessary turning away of the seer's eye from the
throne of glory to the series of pictures about to unfold
themselves before it. The same imperative see is still
more strongly emphasized (xvii. 1 ; xxi. 9)," I will show
thee." It is the very same invitation which the Divine
Majesty in the days of humiliation gave (John i. 39) ; a
simple phrase, available for the common purposes of life,
and, at the same time, a sacred form of speech applied in
Holy Writ to the loftiest subjects, as we see in Psalm
xlvi. 8 ; Ixvi. 5 ; and Joel iii. 1 1 . We would derive
from it, and from the voice of thunder from out the throne,
the impressive warning : Let no one seek to see heavenly
visions or future events without the right voice calling to
him," Come and see."
But that we may overlook nothing on the way, there is
that voice rising from the midst of the four living creatures,
which graciously interferes to set limits to the horrors
of famine. In this wonderful book are many voices which
prompt our questionings, but permit of no confident answer.
Here, nowever, it appears to us (though we would not dogmatize
on the point) that it is neither that of Jesus himself
as many think, who compare the passage with chap,
v. 6 nor yet some special angel, but merely a visionary
voice interposed as accompaniment and explanation to the
appearance of the third rider. It is sometimes difficult to
determine exactly where the voices of angels occur, but
we prefer to keep always within the limits of certainty so
far as we are able to apprehend them.
