When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” Revelation 6:9-17
Chapter 6 of Revelation can be a shock to the system. Perhaps the language of chapter 6 begins to lose most first-time readers of the book. Thoughts of violence and judgement can instill fear and confusion. It’s more complicated, because the one who unleashes these violent horse figures is the Lamb. What is going on here, and is there any hope for us in this passage?
Verse 9 shifts from describing the various horses to the cry of the oppressed. They cry out, “how long, Sovereign Lord” because the suffering was so great. The description preceding this cry is one of violence, political abuse, economic emergency, and verbal manipulation. It’s no wonder they cry out to God.
Notice what God does with their cry. He first gives them a white robe, which we later learn represents a cleansing. He then tells them to wait. We find out later that they are to wait for his justice. He acknowledges their suffering and then in verse 15 the story shifts. The sixth seal sounds terrifying, but it is actually grace in disguise. Notice who he tells us is hiding in caves. The powerful and the weak alike are put into the same state of fear before God’s justice. The princes and generals, the rich, and the mighty are all the ones who brought the suffering that the horses represented. God is telling his people that even they will be forced to acknowledge his justice.
Then John does something he has already done, using extreme contrast to describe the judge of the world. It is the “wrath of the Lamb” that is poured out on the earth. The lamb that takes away the sins of the world is the one who unleashes wrath. This is not a human kind of wrath. It is a wrath that pours from a God who loves humanity so much that he became sin and died for us.
There is a tension in that description that we may struggle with but I see it as a mercy. Justice must be done, but the one who brings justice is a good and self-sacrificial Lamb. He is qualified to bring this kind of justice. Perhaps the greatest thing we have to fear from the wrath of the lamb is that he will not stand for humans abusing humans. He will protect his creation. If we plan to continue to use our powers to damage each other, we will receive his love as wrath. If we choose to partner with his plan for the world, we can receive his justice as a white robe.
Take a moment to pray for God’s justice both in the world and in your own life.
by Aaron Bjorklund
