First, let’s notice the fourth way that he kills, and that is by “wild beasts of the earth.”

So, we have Death, which is brought on by war and warfare; Death that is brought on by famine; Death that is brought on by pestilence; and Death that is brought on by wild beasts of the earth. This corresponds with a fourscore judgment, which God presented through the prophet Ezekiel in the long ago. If we look over in Ezekiel, chapter 5, verses 16 through 17, we see that the Lord is speaking through the prophet about what the eventuality would be of Jerusalem itself: “…when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. ¹⁷I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the LORD; I have spoken.” Also, you might make note of Ezekiel 14, verse 21. That same scenario is given there. [“For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!”]

Here, again, we mentioned that we’re looking at imagery; we’re looking at symbols. Many of things that we are looking at here, and will be looking at as we continue in the book of Revelation, will be things that have already been spoken of, things from the Old Testament that the Lord had spoken concerning His judgments against the children of Israel, against nations around the Hebrew nation also, even some things from the New Testament. We’re not talking here about absolutes or specifics; we’re talking about images.

The judgment symbolized by this rider is against the sinful world of people who have not named the Name of the Lord. But in such judgments, Christians must necessarily suffer with the rest.

There are the first four seals, all of them having to do with four horses, four riders, four colors, all representing something. As a quick review here, the first seal, we concluded, represented the going forth of Christ in the Gospel for the Word of redemption’s scheme as it had been symbolized by the single book [scroll]. The second seal represented the persecution of the saints which followed the preaching of the Truth, which brought saints and the world into conflict. The third seal represented discrimination in labor and business, which added to the suffering of Christians. The fourth seal represented the judgments that fell upon society as a result of pagan rejection of the Divine Message. That is the opening of the first four seals.

THE SOULS UNDER THE ALTAR (VERSES 9-11)

The Fifth Seal – Souls Under the Altar (verses 9-10)

9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the Witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

This is a little different scene here that John has. There is not a rider coming forth, but rather, as this fifth seal opens, he sees the souls of slain saints of God under the altar.

The Hebrew term for the word “altar” in the Old Testament, as part of the Old Covenant, was from a word that meant “place for blood sacrifice.” This was derived from a word that meant “to slaughter,” or “to slay a victim.”

The New Testament term for the word “altar”—the Greek word—is derived from a word which means “to sacrifice.”

Well, in the Law it was said that the life is in the blood, Leviticus 17, verses 11 and 14, and Deuteronomy 12, and verse 23. [Leviticus 17: 11, 14: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul…For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.” Deuteronomy 12:23: “Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.”]

The blood of the sacrifices was to be poured out at the base of the altar, Leviticus 4:7; 4:18; 4:30 and others. [Leviticus 4:7, 18, 30: “And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation…And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation…And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.”]